Trump nominates Eric Meyer as next US Ambassador to Sri Lanka

The White House has announced the nomination of Eric Meyer, a career diplomat from California, as the next Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

U.S. President Donald Trump has formally submitted Meyer’s name to the United States Senate for confirmation.

Eric Meyer, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is the Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. 

He is responsible for overseeing the bureau and coordinating the Administration’s policy priorities throughout South and Central Asia, including in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Meyer’s most recent assignments include serving as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the U.S. Mission to Norway, and as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia—one of NATO’s newest member states.

He previously served as U.S. Consul General in Almaty, Kazakhstan, leading interagency operations and representing U.S. interests in southern Kazakhstan at the only U.S. Consulate in Central Asia. In Washington, Eric served as Special Assistant and Senior Advisor in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs coordinating policy across all South and Central Asia countries.

Prior to that, he was Consul General in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where he frequently served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission. Eric was previously Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Finland where he also served on the board of the Fulbright Commission. His first diplomatic overseas assignment was as Vice Consul in Buenos Aires, Argentina followed by an assignment as a Cultural Affairs Officer in Cairo, Egypt.

In Washington, Eric also served as an advisor in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs during the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, Eric worked in corporate sales and government relations in the airline industry. 

He graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in Political Science and has an MBA from Georgetown University. He is the recipient of several State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor awards and speaks Danish, French, Khmer, Russian and Spanish.