The Diplomat in Spain

Fernández-Palacios, Florensa and Montobbio./ Photos: Defensa, IEMed y MAEC

The Diplomat. 28/07/2018

The Council of Ministers appointed yesterday the new ambassadors to NATO, to the Council of Europe and to the United Nations Office and the International Organizations based in Vienna.

As The Diplomat had advanced, Miguel Ángel Fernández-Palacios is Spain’s new ambassador to NATO. Born in 1965 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and belonging to the diplomatic career since 1994, between 2006 and 2008 he was Ambassador in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and between 2011 and 2015 Ambassador in Ethiopia, as well as Permanent Observer Representative to the African Union.

Besides, he was responsible for the United Nations and Western Europe in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, advisor for International Affairs of the Minister of Defense, General Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Defense and General Director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Congress of Deputies. Until now he was a counselor of parliamentary affairs in the Permanent Representation of Spain before the European Union.

On the other hand, Senén Florensa is the new ambassador permanent representative of Spain before the Office of the United Nations and the International Organizations based in Vienna. Born in 1950, he was a member of the Cabinet of the President of the Government with Adolfo Suárez and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo and first secretary of the National Commission for the V Centennial Commemoration of the Discovery of America.

He has also been deputy delegate in the Spanish Mission to UNESCO in Paris, consul general of Spain in Berlin, consul general of Spain in Rome (a position he currently holds), general director of the Institute for Cooperation with the Mediterranean Arab World and Countries in Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Generalitat de Catalunya (in the days of Artur Mas, but before the independence of the latter). He is also president of the EUROMESCO network of think-tanks of Euro-Mediterranean Studies and was president of the WOCMES Middle East Studies World Congress in 2010.

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Fernández-Palacios, Florensa and Montobbio will go to Brussels, Vienna and Strasbourg

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Likewise, the Government has appointed the ambassador in Andorra, Manuel Montobbio, as ambassador of Spain’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg. Born in Barcelona in 1962 and career diplomat since 1987, Montobbio has been, among other positions, responsible for the Plan of Action for the promotion of the presence of Spaniards in International Organizations, Ambassador in Special Mission for the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004, Director of the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Director General of the Office of Planning and Evaluation of the Secretariat of State for Cooperation and member of the Office of Analysis and Forecasting.

Between July 2006 and January 2011 he was the first ambassador of Spain to reside in Albania and since July 2014 he was ambassador in Andorra. In parallel, Manuel Montobbio has developed an important academic and literary work and is the author of several books and numerous publications on peace processes, international relations and politics.

Finally, the Council of Ministers appointed David Arturo Carriedo, ambassador of Spain in Kazakhstan. Born in Zaragoza in 1969, he is diplomat since 1996 and until then was assigned to the embassy in Buenos Aires. Among other positions, he was the cabinet director of the Secretary of State for European and Ibero-American Affairs.