The Diplomat Diplomat Héctor Gabriel Castañeda is the new deputy director general of EU Candidate Countries, Countries of the European Economic Area and Other European Countries, replacing Nicolás El Busto, who has taken up a position as counsellor at the Spanish Embassy in Rome. Castañeda will be in charge of relations with countries that aspire to enter the European Union, such as Turkey or several Balkan countries, as well as with those that form part of the European Economic Area and other European States that do not yet have any status in relation to the EU. The new deputy director general joined the Diplomatic Service in 2004 and has been posted for four years as number two at the Spanish Embassy in Ankara. Previously, he was posted in London, Maputo and Lima. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has worked in the Sub-Directorate General for Sub-Saharan Africa and in the General Directorate for Ibero-America, as a technical advisor for the Ibero-American Summits. Furthermore, Nicolás Gonzalo Leiva has joined as Deputy Assistant Director General for Countries of the European Union, where he will work alongside the Deputy Director General, Cristina Borreguero.
