Latest news from the DA

A symbolic handover at the DA

On 1 August 2025, Ambassador Emil Brix passed the baton to the new Director of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien - Vienna School of International Studies, Ambassador Martin Eichtinger. We thank Ambassador Brix for his outstanding leadership over the past eight years and warmly welcome Ambassador Eichtinger to the DA community!

Ambassador Eichtinger, born on 5 April 1961 in Graz, has had a distinguished career in diplomacy, public administration and politics. Having joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1986, Martin Eichtinger served as personal secretary to Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Alois Mock and in various key roles, including Ambassador to Romania and Moldova (2007-10), the United Kingdom (2015-18) and, most recently, Italy (2024-25) as well as Director General for Cultural Policy (2010-15) and Austria's Special Representative for Neighbourhood Policy and the Danube Region (2023- 24).

From 2018 to 2023, Martin Eichtinger was a member of the government of Lower Austria, responsible for housing, labour markets and international relations. In addition to his diplomatic and political career, Martin Eichtinger held key roles in the Federation of Austrian Industries (iv), where he managed international relations. In 2003, Eichtinger joined the Austrian Ministry of Economics and Labour, serving as Chief of Staff and later as Secretary General.

Ambassador Eichtinger is married with two children.

A farewell interview with Ambassador Emil Brix has been published in club.da alumni news, the bi-annual online magazine of the DA's alumni association. The latest and all previous issues are available at https://club.da-vienna.ac.at/clubda-alumni-news.

Last update: 1 August 2025