Eduardo González
The Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina is going to be the first Special Representative of the Secretary General of NATO for the Southern Neighborhood, a decision that has outraged the Italian Government of Giorgia Meloni, which had shown great interest in taking over this recently created position during the Alliance Summit in Washington.
According to the newspaper 'La Vanguardia', the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has chosen a man he completely trusts to occupy the position. Javier Corominas is the current Deputy Undersecretary General of the Alliance for Political Affairs and Security Policy and Special Representative of the Secretary General for the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The official announcement is expected to occur in the coming days.
The creation of the position of Special Representative of the Secretary General of NATO for the Southern Neighborhood is part of the Action Plan for the southern flank agreed upon during the recent Summit of the Atlantic Alliance, held in Washington on July 10 and 11.
At the press conference after the Summit, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, celebrated the approval, “thanks to the leadership of Spain”, of the Action Plan for the Southern Neighborhood, “which gives continuity to the Madrid Strategic Concept and which "It is one of the great objectives that we had set for ourselves as Spain and as NATO at this Summit." “In this context, a Special Representative of the Secretary General for the south will also be appointed who will allow progress in this direction,” continued Sánchez, who did not want to specify if Spain was considering the possibility of offering a candidate for the position. , as Italy had already announced. “The important thing is that it has been approved,” he responded.
Diplomatic sources told The Diplomat that, “pending official communication, Foreign Affairs highly values the creation of the representative of the Secretary General of NATO for the Southern neighborhood, as well as the important progress made at the NATO summit. NATO in relation to the Southern neighborhood", progress that "is aligned with the position promoted by Spain in the previous summits in Madrid and Vilnius."
The truth is that Colomina's appointment has outraged the Meloni Government. During the NATO Summit, Italy proposed up to three names for the position and the Prime Minister herself stressed to the rest of the Alliance leaders Italy's role in promoting "attention to the southern flank of the Alliance", in the strategy for North Africa and containment of immigration.
For this reason, the news, which reached Rome this past Wednesday, was received with indignation in the Palazzo Chigi, which immediately sent its delegates to NATO headquarters in Brussels to formally protest. According to the Italian newspaper 'Il Foglio', the permanent representative of Italy to NATO, Marco Peronaci, sent a letter to Stoltenberg on July 17 in which he explained that “the Italian authorities have learned of this decision with great surprise.” and disappointment” and warned that, “to be effective, NATO policy in the south needs a renewed focus. not a rebrand.”
Likewise, even recognizing the power of the secretary general to decide on this type of positions, "Italy points out that this strategic decision has been made at the end of his (Stoltenberg's) mandate and without adequate consultation with the allies."
The Meloni government has instructed Peronaci to officially inform NATO leaders that, in Colomina's appointment letter, Stoltenberg refers to him as “my special representative.” It follows, according to Italy, that “this appointment should be considered temporary pending any decision that the Secretary General”, i.e. Mark Rutte, “wants to take” when he takes office in October.
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