The Diplomat
New Zealand’s new ambassador, Tara Morton, began her work in Spain this week after presenting the Work Copies of her Letters of Credence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of the ambassadors’ introducer, María Sebastián de Erice.
On its social media accounts, the New Zealand Embassy welcomes Tara Morton and notes that the ambassador is very pleased to take up her post and looks forward to meeting those attending the upcoming ANZAC Day, which every 25 April pays tribute to the New Zealand and Australian soldiers who, in 1915, during the First World War, fought in the Battle of Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire.
Tara Morton, who replaces Nigel Donald Fyfe, is a career diplomat and is also accredited to Andorra, the Holy See and Morocco as Ambassador and High Commissioner to Malta.
She is a former Director of the Middle East and Africa Division of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has held a number of overseas postings throughout her career. She was stationed in Cairo, was Chargé d’Affaires at the New Zealand Embassy in Baghdad, and head of the sanctions team at the Permanent Mission of New Zealand to the United Nations in New York.
The new ambassador arrives in Madrid at a time when Spain and New Zealand, which recently upgraded their relations to the level of Strategic Partnership, are seeking to strengthen their collaboration. On the 5th, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares met with his New Zealand counterpart, Nanaia Mahuta, during the NATO meeting in Brussels, and in addition to discussing bilateral relations, they discussed security in the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic Alliance’s collaboration with partners in the region.
