Welcome to the EFTA Secretariat’s new senior management team

Kurt Jäger, the first Secretary-General from Liechtenstein, succeeds Siri Veseth Meling. Mr Jäger served as Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to EFTA, the WTO and the UN in Geneva from April 2021 until August 2024. Before that he served as Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the US, and from 2010 to 2016 he was Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the EU and Belgium. He has over 25 years of professional experience in international regulatory affairs, of which 15 were in the airline industry and civil aviation administration. From 2005 to 2010 he served as College Member of the EFTA Surveillance Authority.

In Geneva, Markus Schlagenhof from Switzerland succeeds Frank Büchel as Deputy Secretary-General. Mr Schlagenhof has served as Ambassador and Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements and Head of the World Trade Division at SECO since September 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in trade policy issues, holding various positions in the WTO, OECD and G20, as well as on Commodity Boards, and working on EU and EFTA matters. He has led many free trade negotiations as Switzerland’s chief negotiator and spokesperson for the EFTA States, including the recently signed Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement with India, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Indonesia and ongoing negotiations with Malaysia, Mercosur and Thailand.

Incoming Deputy Secretary-General in Brussels, Knut Hermansen, has a long career in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has worked in the Ministry’s EEA Section since 2004. From 2015 to 2019 he was seconded as Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of the Norwegian Mission to the EU in Brussels. Mr Hermansen has previously served at the EFTA Secretariat, most recently as Director of the Goods Division (2012–2015) and before then as Senior Officer responsible for customs matters (1998–2004).

In Brussels, Thordur Jónsson from Iceland succeeds Andri Lúthersson as Deputy Secretary-General. Mr Jónsson served as Director of Trade Agreements at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland from 2020 to August 2024. Before that, he worked on EEA matters at the Mission of Iceland to the EU, first as Minister Counsellor and then as Deputy Head of Mission. From 2012 to 2017 he was posted to Iceland’s Mission in Geneva. His professional connection to EFTA spans 20 years, having started his career as a Junior Professional at the EFTA Secretariat in Geneva in 2005.