Kathleen Ann Kavalec, who currently serves as head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been nominated as the U.S. ambassador to Romania, the White House announced.

Kavalec, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, was posted in Romania before, working as a Cultural Affairs Officer with the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.

The U.S. ambassador post in Romania has been vacant since Adrian Zuckerman ended his mandate in early 2021.

Kavalec previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. 

Prior to that, she was the Director of the Office of Russian Affairs and the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Mission UNESCO in Paris, France. 

She oversaw major U.S. foreign assistance programs as Deputy Coordinator for Assistance in the European Bureau, and as Director for Conflict Prevention in the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. 

Kavalec’s other overseas assignments include service as Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine; and Political Officer, U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia (twice).

In Washington, she served as a Legislative Management Officer in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, and as Director of the Economic Unit in the Office of the Coordinator for Assistance for the New Independent States.

A native of California, Kavalec earned her A.B. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is the recipient of numerous State Department awards, as well as the Presidential Rank Award. 

She speaks Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Russian.

(Photo: OSCE, from osce.org)

simona@romania-insider.com