Director Lykke Friis has been appointed advisor in a Nordic-Baltic high-level expert group

The purpose of the high-level expert group is to provide advice, analysis and assistance when it comes to Ukraine's accession process to the EU, including strategic planning or review of key documents.

Director Lykke Friis has been appointed as Denmark's representative in the expert group by the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. 

Lykke Friis has written her PhD thesis on the EU's enlargement and in connection with the large eastern enlargement round in 2004 completed many negotiation courses in the Baltics, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. 

The initiative to establish the expert group was taken during Sweden's coordination of the NB8 cooperation format.

The Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billström, stated in connection with the establishment of the expert group:

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The high-level experts in the Nordic-Baltic group are:

• Alar Streimann: Alar Streimann has served as Estonia's ambassador to France, Germany and Sweden, as well as permanent representative to the Council of Europe and the OECD. He was Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2011–2015. Mr. Streimann was also chief negotiator during Estonia's accession negotiations with the European Union.
• Algirdas Šemeta: Algirdas Šemeta's career includes notable roles as European Commissioner for Budget in 2009–2010 and for Taxation, Customs, Anti-Fraud and Statistics (from 2011) and Audit in 2010–2014. Before becoming a Commissioner, Mr Šemeta held senior positions in the Lithuanian government, including as Minister of Finance in 1997-1999 and 2008-2009. In 2014–2019, he was the first Business Ombudsman of Ukraine.
• Andris Piebalgs: Andris Piebalgs is an internationally experienced politician, teacher and researcher with over 35 years of management experience and 20 years of experience in global energy affairs. He was European Commissioner for Energy in 2004–2009 and for Development in 2010–2014. As ambassador to the EU, he played a central role in Latvia's accession process in 1998–2003 and as deputy foreign minister for EU affairs in 2003–2004.
• Cecilia Malmström: Cecilia Malmström served as European Commissioner for Trade in 2014–2019, where she played a key role in shaping the European Union's trade policies and negotiations. In 2010–2014 she was European Commissioner for Home Affairs. Prior to her role as Commissioner, Ms Malmström was Minister for European Affairs 2006–2010 and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2006.
• Högni S. Kristjánsson: Högni S. Kristjánsson is an experienced diplomat who served as Acting Deputy Director of the Icelandic EU Mission in Brussels in 2002 and as a collegiate member of the EFTA Surveillance Authority in 2018–2021. In 2008–2013 he was director of European affairs and heavily involved in the accession negotiations.
• Katarina Areskoug: Katarina Areskoug gained extensive experience in EU affairs as head of the European Commission in Sweden in 2015–2020. She was also State Secretary for EU and International Affairs to the Swedish Prime Minister in 2010–2014. Prior to this, she was posted to Brussels for 10 years as a diplomat at Sweden's permanent representation to the EU in Brussels and as an official at the European Commission. Her roles at the European Commission included desk officer for Latvia during the country's EU membership negotiations.
• Laimonas Čiakas: Laimonas Čiakas is the former Director General of the National Land Service of Lithuania (2017–2021). In 1998–2010 he was Deputy Director and then Director of the Agriculture Department. Here he played a decisive role in the implementation of agricultural policy and reforms as well as the management of European integration in the Ministry of Agriculture. He was also Director of the National Audit Office in 2011–2017.
• Marja Rislakki: Marja Rislakki was a career diplomat with particular expertise in EU affairs. She was Finland's Permanent Representative to the EU in 2017–2021, leading Coreper during Finland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019. She was Finland's Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU in 2008–2013 and Finnish representative in the Council's Enlargement Working Group in 2000–2003. During the Finnish accession negotiations, she acted as diplomatic advisor to the Finnish chief negotiator in 1993–1995. She was also State Secretary to the Finnish Minister of Economy in 2013–2015.

• Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson: Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson was chief negotiator for Iceland's EU accession process in 2009–2013. In this capacity, he led Iceland's negotiations with the EU. He was also Iceland's ambassador to the EU (and non-resident ambassador to other countries) in 2005–2011. In addition, he worked in Ukraine as a team leader for the Special Monitoring Mission in 2014.

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  https://www.government.se/contentassets/4faea3ad58c740f8978a06b22343ebfd/high-level-advisory-group/

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  https://www.government.se/contentassets/4faea3ad58c740f8978a06b22343ebfd/high-level-advisory-group/