Marilena Raouna: Foreign Affairs Attaché becomes Deputy Minister of European Affairs

Foreign Affairs Attaché at Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU Marilena Raouna has been appointed as the new Deputy Minister of European Affairs.

Raouna was appointed as part of the government reshuffle and replaces Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Raouna was born in Larnaca in 1983 and is a graduate of the American Academy Larnaca.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Jurisprudence (Law) from Oxford University, a Master of Laws (LLM) in Public International Law from the

London School of Economics and Political Science as a Chevening Scholar and studied Langue et Civilisation Française at Université Paris-Sorbonne.

From 2007 to 2010 she worked at the European Commission, in the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security, as Programme Manager of the DAPHNE III Programme on combatting violence against women, children, young people.

From 2010 to 2014 she served in the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the European Union.

During the first Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU (2012) she was the national representative of Cyprus in the Council's Working Group on enlargement issues as well as a member of the negotiating team of the Council of the EU in trilogues with the European Parliament and the European Commission for the establishment of a new pre-accession assistance mechanism.

From 2014 to 2018, she worked at the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic as a special advisor to the Director of the Diplomatic Office, including European Union issues. Raouna also participated in the most recent negotiations for the resolution of the Cyprus issue as well as in a special negotiating group for European Union issues.

From 2018 to 2021 she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a special advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

She was then appointed director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic in the government of Nikos Christodoulides. At the same time, Diplomatic Counselor for EU issues (EU Sherpa) and Secretary of the National Council.

Raouna is married and a mother of two.

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