Ulrike Hartmann is currently serving as Austria’s Special Representative for the Western Balkans, a role she assumed in February 2025. Having joined the Austrian Foreign Service in 1990 she has held many key positions throughout her career, including Austrian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as postings in Moscow, Lisbon, and Belgrade. From 2010 to 2016, she was seconded to the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she served as Head of Cabinet and EU Liaison for the High Representative, later leading the OHR’s Banja Luka office.

In Vienna, Hartmann worked in the departments for South-Eastern Europe, Inter-religious Dialogue, Consular Affairs and Energy, and participated as a member of the Austrian OSCE Delegation during Austria’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2000. Additionally, she held the position of International Secretary for the Social Democratic Party of Austria for nearly a year.

Hartmann holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Salzburg and completed post-graduate studies at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. She speaks English, Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian and French, with passive knowledge of Italian, Russian, and Portuguese. Born in 1962, she has one adult daughter.