Luis Ayllón
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has reversed the decision of his predecessor, Arancha González Laya, to appoint Camilo Villarino as ambassador to Moscow, who has been summoned by a judge in Zaragoza as a person under investigation in the case of the entry into Spain of the Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali.
As a result, the government has withdrawn its request for permission from the Russian authorities and will present a new candidate. Foreign Ministry sources told The Diplomat that the decision is not related to the fact that Villarino, who was González Laya’s chief of staff, has been summoned as a person under investigation, but diplomatic circles believe that it would be problematic for Russia to grant the visa in such a situation.
The same sources insist that Villarino will be assigned to another embassy, in line with his professional profile, as the minister wants ambassadorial appointments to take into account the experience and track record that diplomats have in different areas.
This is why Albares has also decided not to appoint Felipe de la Morena as the new ambassador to South Africa, despite the fact that the South African authorities had already given him the go-ahead. The minister has opted to send the current director general for Africa, Raimundo Robredo, who was waiting to receive the go-ahead to become ambassador to Thailand, to Pretoria.
The same sources pointed out that there could still be some more changes and insisted that all those who had been assigned an ambassadorship would be ambassadors, although it might not be to the place initially planned.
With the latest senior appointments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several ambassadorial posts have become vacant, which Albares intends to fill in the coming weeks, including the one in Paris, which he himself held.
One of these posts, that of permanent representative to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was held by Luis Cuesta, who was appointed under-secretary of Foreign Affairs, was already designated at yesterday’s Council of Ministers and went to Cristóbal Valdés.
