The EU Council appointed Patricia Flor as the EU’s special representative for Central Asia, on 26 June. She will coordinate EU action in Central Asia and supervise implementation of the Union’s strategy for this region. Flor is a senior German diplomat who has spent a large part of her career in the countries of the former Soviet Union, in particular Central Asia. Since March 2011, she has been Germany’s special envoy for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Flor will take up her duties on 1 July. Her mandate will initially run until 30 June 2013. She is the second woman to be appointed as EU special representative.