Etienne de Poncins (born March 6, 1964) is a seasoned French diplomat and Minister Plenipotentiary. He studied political science at Sciences Po Paris and graduated from the École nationale d’administration (ENA), “Jean Monnet” class (1988–1990). He also holds a degree in history.
His career has combined service at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior postings abroad. After serving in the European Affairs Directorate in Paris and at the French Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, he was Deputy Head of Mission in Warsaw (1999–2002) and a member of the Secretariat of the European Convention that drafted the proposed European Constitution (2002–2003). He later served as Press Counsellor and Spokesperson at the French EU Representation and as Chief of Staff to the Minister for European Affairs.
De Poncins was appointed Ambassador of France to Bulgaria (2007–2010), to Kenya (2010–2013) and concurrently to Somalia. From 2013 to 2015, he led the EU’s civilian mission EUCAP Nestor (later EUCAP Somalia), dedicated to strengthening regional maritime capacities in the Horn of Africa. He then served as Inspector of Foreign Affairs before his appointment as Ambassador of France to Ukraine (2019–2023 - during Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022). Since 2023, he has been France’s Ambassador to Poland.
He is a Knight of the National Order of Merit and a Knight of the Legion of Honour.