European Investment Bank Names First Ombuds

Balint Balassa has been appointed the inaugural Ombuds for the European Investment Bank. Reporting directly to the President of the EIB, Balassa will provide confidential services to 5,000 staff members in the bank’s Luxembourg headquarters, local offices within the EU, and external offices around the world. He assumed the role on October 1, 2025.

Balassa brings more than two decades of experience in conflict resolution and organizational support. For the past year, he has served as the Ombudsman for the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia Region. Prior to that, he spent 16 years with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and worked as a Conflict Resolution and Mediation Officer in Nairobi and Budapest. He earned Master’s degrees from Eötvös Loránd University and the University of Debrecen and is a CEDR-certified mediator and a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP).(EIB Bio; Linkedin.)

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