Mr Francesco Bastagli was appointed as Head of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine on 29 March, 2014.

A former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, between 2005 and 2006 Mr. Bastagli was Special Representative of Kofi Annan for Western Sahara. Prior to that he served as Deputy Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (2002 -2005) and as UN Resident Coordinator in the Islamic Republic of Iran (1999-2002).

In a long UN career, Mr. Bastagli also worked in senior positions on drugs and crime control, nuclear energy, the Palestinian question and with refugees in Central America. Before joining EUBAM Mr Bastagli was senior advisor at the Institute for International Political Studies in Milan. As a policy advisor to the UN Drugs and Crime Office he dealt with issues ranging from police reform in Kenya to regional drug and crime control in South Asia.

Mr. Bastagli has lectured on international peace and security at universities, research centres and the Italian Army Institute for Military Studies.