Foreign Ministry creates a Sub-Directorate General for South Asia and another for West Africa

Eduardo González The Council of Ministers approved this Thursday the Royal Decree by which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is restructured by creating new sub-directorates general, renaming others and modifying the powers of some management bodies, according to sources from the Ministry exclusively informed The Diplomat. The objective of these changes, according to the aforementioned sources, is “to respond to Spain's new foreign policy, which has set itself the objective of taking Spain's voice beyond our borders and making our country, even more so, a truly influential player on a global scale.” The Royal Decree (reported by the aforementioned Foreign Ministry sources to The Diplomat and published this Friday in the Official State Gazette, BOE) maintains the four State Secretariats that make up the Ministry since its remodeling in 2021: State Secretariat for Foreign and Global Affairs, for the European Union, for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World and for International Cooperation. Within the State Secretariat for Foreign and Global Affairs, which maintains its division into five General Directorates, a new Sub-General Directorate is created: the Sub-General Directorate for South Asia. “The idea is that Spain cannot be left out of a reality that will increasingly mark global dynamics,” the sources indicated. “The Indian subcontinent, the most populated region on the planet, contains actors of capital importance for the world stage, especially India, which was recently visited by the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez,” they continued. The creation of a Sub-General Directorate seeks to relaunch the role of our country in the area. Also within the State Secretariat for Foreign Affairs, the Directorate General for Africa is being restructured. It will remain as such but will include a new Subdirectorate General for Western Africa alongside the existing one for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Since the approval of the first Africa Plan, almost 20 years ago, Spain's presence on the African continent has multiplied exponentially. "Today, the demographic push of the continent, its importance in the fight against climate change, security and defence and migratory flows lead Spain to pay more detailed attention to the different countries that make it up," the sources add. Within the framework of the Directorate General for Foreign and Security Policy, the Subdirectorate General for Sanctions and International Cooperation against Terrorism, Drugs and Organised Crime will now include sanctions in its area of competence. "International sanctions adopted collectively within the framework of the Council of the European Union are an instrument of growing importance to pursue the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union," the Foreign Ministry sources continue. Furthermore, the Ministry has launched an Office for the Evaluation of Spanish Cooperation, with the rank of general sub-directorate and attached to the State Secretariat for International Cooperation, with the aim of improving the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of Spanish Cooperation.

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