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Catherine M. Croft is a
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
official who has served as a special advisor for
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
both in the State Department and on the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exec ...
. Croft has been scheduled to testify in closed-door hearings before the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees in October 2019.


Career

Croft worked as a Senior Research Associate for the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) where, in 2006, she was involved in the
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...
Program, contributing to a draft constitution, minority rights legislation, and final status negotiations. Prior to this position, she spent several years working in community development and public health in Latin America. On September 23, 2010 The
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
nominated Croft for a promotion in her role as Foreign Service Officer. She was promoted to Foreign Service Officer Class Four on Sept. 21, 2015 In 2012 Croft was one of the ELO's (entry level officers) to leave the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez for the Baja peninsula to serve as a site officer, preparing for the
G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation ...
meeting that the
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's ...
would participate in. Croft's work on
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
began in 2013 when she was posted to the U.S. Mission at
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, where her work included NATO-Ukraine relations. When
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
invaded Ukraine, she was moved to the NATO Headquarters in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. From August 2015 to July 2017, Croft was a Ukraine specialist at State Department Headquarters, working on security assistance, arms sales, defense reform and anti-corruption efforts. In July 2017 Croft was asked to join the National Security Council staff at the White House. In her role heading the European Affairs Department of the White House NSC, Croft welcomed the Armenia-USA delegation of the Armenian parliament, which had meetings at the White House and the Congress in Washington D.C. During the meeting the Armenian MPs presented her with several issues regarding regional security, particularly regarding ceasefire violations on NKR-Azerbaijan border. In 2018 Croft had served as the U.S. Director of
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
and Director at the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exec ...
.The OSCE is the world's largest security-oriented
intergovernmental organization Globalization is social change associated with increased connectivity among societies and their elements and the explosive evolution of transportation and telecommunication technologies to facilitate international cultural and economic exchan ...
. Its mandate includes issues such as
arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through th ...
, promotion of
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
,
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
, and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and its institutions. It has its origins in the 1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland.The OSCE is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention,
crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envir ...
, and post-conflict rehabilitation. Its 57 participating countries are located in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, northern and central
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
, and North America. The participating states cover much of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere. It was created during the Cold War era as an East–West forum. In February 2018 Croft met with Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) from the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
when he visited Washington meet with Members of Congress and officials from the U.S. National Security Council and State Department. Ukraine was the focus during a meeting of Tsereteli with Chris Anderson, Special Advisor to Ambassador
Kurt Volker Kurt Douglas Volker (born December 27, 1964) is an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO and served as executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership. He worked in a volunteer capacity as the U.S. S ...
, Office of the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations; Elisabeth Millard, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs; and Catherine Croft in her role as OSCE Director at the National Security Council. Tsereteli emphasized in his dialogue the "conflicts, human rights, hybrid threats from Russia, as well as role of America in addressing the challenges."


Impeachment Inquiry

In the summer of 2019 Croft took over a role from colleague Christopher Anderson as deputy to then-Special Envoy for
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
Kurt Volker Kurt Douglas Volker (born December 27, 1964) is an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO and served as executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership. He worked in a volunteer capacity as the U.S. S ...
. Given that she had served at the National Security Council, focusing on Ukraine issues, and on the State Department's Ukraine desk, Croft is acknowledged to be "steeped in the policy issues" surrounding the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Sources familiar with the department say Croft took "very specific interest in the" political-military portfolio of the Ukraine but refused to work with
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...
on Ukraine issues. In her opening statement to congressional committees, Croft noted with regard to former Republican lawmaker
Bob Livingston Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A Republican, he was chosen as Newt Gingrich's successor as Speaker of the U.S. ...
:
During my time at the NSC, I received multiple calls from lobbyist Robert Livingston, who told me that Ambassador
Marie Yovanovitch Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service. She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Under ...
should be fired. He characterized Ambassador Yovanovitch as an " Obama holdover" and associated with
George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated m ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Catherine American diplomats Trump administration personnel Living people Year of birth missing (living people)