Ambassador Jeffrey M. Hovenier is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. He is a diplomat who served as the US ambassador to Kosovo from 2022 to 2024 and has had a career of over thirty-four years in the US foreign service. During this time, he led interagency teams to advance US strategic priorities and served as a strategist and negotiator.

Prior to his role in Kosovo, Ambassador Hovenier was chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission in Turkey. He also served as acting deputy chief of mission and minister counselor for political affairs at the US embassy in Germany, in addition to other roles at US embassies in Peru, Greece, Croatia, Paraguay, and Panama and at the US Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In Washington, he served on the National Security Council as director for Central and Southeastern European affairs and in various positions in the Department of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Ambassador Hovenier is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award as well as numerous Department of State awards, including the Distinguished Honor Award; he received government honors from the Republic of Kosovo. He holds an MA in government from Georgetown University and a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University. He is fluent in Spanish and German and has proficiency in Serbian, Croatian, and Greek.