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European Union ambassador to the United States to visit IU’s Hamilton Lugar School

For Immediate Release Jan 16, 2019

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ambassador David O’Sullivan, head of the delegation of the European Union to the United States, will visit the Indiana University Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies to discuss Europe’s relationship with the United States and what the future holds.

His presentation, “The European Union and the United States: A relationship in transition,” will take place in the school’s Shreve Auditorium at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 18. Hamilton Lugar School Dean Lee Feinstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland, will moderate a discussion with O’Sullivan following his prepared remarks.

Ambassador David O’Sullivan will visit the Indiana University Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies on Jan. 18.

“It was a long-settled issue in Washington that a strong European Union was not only good for the EU but also in the U.S. national interest. No longer,” said Feinstein, who served from 2009 to 2012 in Poland, the EU’s sixth largest country. “Ambassador O’Sullivan is uniquely positioned to assess the state of the EU-U.S. relationship, including the rise of populism on both sides of the Atlantic, the impact of trade tensions, Brexit, and differences on climate change and policy toward Iran.”

In a recent speech on trade tensions between Brussels and Washington, O’Sullivan said, “History has shown that America is stronger when Europe is united, strong and prosperous.”

The European Union appointed O’Sullivan, whose term ends at the end of January, as its top diplomat to the United States in 2014. His career includes a number of notable and senior positions within the European Commission, including head of European Commission President Romano Prodi’s cabinet and secretary general of the European Commission. He was also responsible for overseeing the launch of a number of free trade agreements and concluded the EU’s agreement with South Korea.

Although the State Department recently downgraded the EU’s diplomatic status to that of an international organization without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, multiple signs point to a reversal on this decision.

O’Sullivan’s talk is free and open to the public, with no registration required.

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Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies

Janae Cummings

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