British Embassy Sofia, Bulgaria

Emma Kate Hopkins OBE was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Bulgaria in September 2014 and took up her post in May 2015.

Before her appointment in Sofia, Emma led the UK government’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) to end impunity for sexual violence committed in war. The campaign included the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict – which brought together over 125 countries in the largest gathering ever on this topic. She was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for services to preventing sexual violence in conflict-affected countries.

Emma’s career in government has included leading legal and policy teams at a senior level. She has worked on immigration and asylum, human rights, EU justice and home affairs, international criminal law, organised crime, as well as violence against women. Between 2006 and 2008, she developed the UK strategy on human trafficking and delivered it through a national and international campaign. For her work, in 2008, Emma received the Civil Servant of the Year Award for outstanding contribution to public service and in 2014 her team were given the Civil Service International Award for their work on the PSVI campaign.

Emma graduated with a degree in Law from Cambridge University. She was called to the Bar in 1995 and practised as a barrister until 2001 when she entered public service. Emma is married to Steven Hopkins and they have two young daughters.