Elizabeth K. Horst

Elizabeth Kathryn Horst is an American diplomat who served as the United States' Chargé d'affaires ad interim to Estonia from 2018 to 2019, and was nominated in 2024 to be List of [ambassadors of the United States to Sri Lanka and the Maldives|United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Horst graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and German from the University of Kansas, and with a Master of Arts in modern German history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She served as a volunteer for the Peace Corps in Niger.

Career

Horst came from U.S. Embassy Berlin, where she was Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy for Mission Germany and a member of the Senior Foreign Service. Previously, Elizabeth served as SCA’s Director of the Security, Transnational Affairs and Assistance Office.
Horst served as the Deputy Economic Counselor in Kyiv, Ukraine. She led the interagency task forces of the United States' embassy in Ukraine during the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
On July 29, 2018, she replaced James D. Melville Jr. as the United States' Chargé d'affaires ad interim to Estonia. She served until her replacement by Brian R. Roraff on August 2, 2019.
In February 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Horst to serve as ambassador to Sri Lanka.