Eduardo González
Veteran diplomat Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner has joined the Board of Trustees of the Institute of International Issues and Foreign Policy (INCIPE) as secretary general of this foundation.
The appointment took place yesterday during the second annual meeting of the INCIPE Board of Trustees, in which the accounts for the 2023 financial year were approved. INCIPE is a private, non-profit cultural foundation for research and debate on the problems of Spanish foreign policy. and contemporary international relations. The foundation maintains a position independent of any partisan or group interest and integrates collaborators and contributions from diverse political and professional backgrounds into its activity.
Since its founding in 1991, INCIPE has been chaired by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs José María de Areilza (Count of Motrico), the former Minister of Defense Eduardo Serra and the recently deceased José Lladó, former Minister of Transport and Commerce and founder of Técnicas Reunidas. The current president is Juan Lladó, vice president of Técnicas Reunidas, president of the Spain-China and Spain-USA Council Foundations and son of the previous one.
Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, INCIPE recalls, has an outstanding career as a diplomat. He has been Spain’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Austria, to the OECD and, recently, to Morocco. He remained in Rabat for eight and a half years, until the beginning of this year, which forced him to face both the very serious diplomatic crisis that broke out between the two countries due to the reception in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, in April 2021, as the subsequent recovery of relations, after the decision of the Government of Pedro Sánchez to support Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, just one year later.
In addition, he was general director of the International Department of the President of the Government’s Cabinet, general director of Foreign Policy for Europe and general secretary of the King’s House, among other positions. Díez-Hochleitner will assume the position of secretary general of INCIPE, replacing Manuel Alabart, who has held this position since November 2019.
“We express our deepest gratitude to Manuel Alabart for his exemplary dedication and his invaluable contribution to the development of our Foundation,” the foundation stated in a press release. “We welcome Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner with open arms and are excited for the future that awaits us under his leadership. His experience and dedication will undoubtedly enrich our mission,” it concluded.
