Ashton names EU ambassadors
Top three delegation jobs go to national diplomats
Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, made a first round of appointments to the Union’s delegations around the world today (15 September).
Markus Ederer, the head of policy planning in Germany’s foreign ministry, is to head the EU’s delegation in China. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Austria’s permanent representative to the EU, has been named as head of delegation in Japan. The South Africa job goes to Roeland van de Geer, a Dutch diplomat who currently serves as EU Special Representative (EUSR) for the Great Lakes region.
Seven women
Of the 28 heads of delegation and one deputy head named today, four are from the EU’s new member states and seven are women. The most important posts – in China, Japan and South Africa – go to diplomats from EU member states. In all, the member states take 13 posts and the European Commission 16. No jobs have gone to officials from the Council of Ministers, although three of the 13 national diplomats are currently working for the Council.
The best-represented member states in this round are Spain with five appointments and Ireland and France with three each.
The positions of head of delegation in Brazil and Iraq and of deputy head of delegation in the United States are to be readvertised because no suitable candidate could be found. Another head of delegation post, for Bosnia and Herzegovina, was readvertised earlier this summer for the same reason.
Today’s announcement also included Vygaudas Ušackas, Lithuania’s foreign minister, who was appointed EUSR and head of delegation in Afghanistan in March.
Gender and geographical balance
In announcing the appointments, Ashton said: “As promised to member states, the European Parliament and EU citizens, I have appointed the best people for the right jobs.” She said that she had “made a start” to address gender and geographical balance in the new European External Action Service (EEAS), a core demand of member states and MEPs. “These appointments show an improvement in both but there is more to do,” she said.
Fact File
Appointments
Afghanistan: Vygaudas Ušackas (Lithuanian)
Albania: Ettore Sequi (Italian)
Angola: Javier Puyol Pinuela (Spanish)
Argentina: Alfonso Díez Torres (Spanish)
Bangladesh: William Hanna (Irish)
Botswana: Gerard McGovern (Irish)
Burundi: Stephane De Loecker (Belgian)
Chad: Hélène Cave (French)
China: Markus Ederer (German)
China (deputy): Carmen Cano de Lasala (Spanish)
Gabon: Cristina Martins Barreira (Portuguese)
Georgia: Philip Dimitrov (Bulgarian)
Guinea-Bissau: Joaquín González-Ducay (Spanish)
Haiti: Lut Fabert-Goossens (Luxembourgeoise)
Japan: Hans Dietmar Schweisgut (Austrian)
Jordan: Joanna Wronecka (Polish)
Lebanon: Angelina Eichhorst (Dutch)
Macedonia: Peter Sørensen (Danish)
Mozambique: Paul Malin (Irish)
Namibia: Raúl Fuentes Milani (Spanish)
Pakistan: Lars-Gunnar Wigemark (Swedish)
Papua New Guinea: Martin Dihm (German)
Philippines: Guy Ledoux (French)
Senegal: Dominique Dellicour (Belgian)
Singapore: Marc Ungeheuer (Luxembourgeois)
South Africa: Roeland van de Geer (Dutch)
South Korea: Tomasz Kozlowski (Polish)
Uganda: Roberto Ridolfi (Italian)
Zambia: Gilles Hervio (French)
The appointees named today will be transferred to the EEAS when the service launches in December or January. They will take up their posts once their future host country has granted their accreditation.