The European Union’s diplomatic service announced on Tuesday, April 17, that Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, nominated 44 Heads of Delegation, Heads of Office and Charge d’Affaires of the Union and 11 Deputies “for the upcoming diplomatic rotation at the level of EU delegations around the world”.
In 2015, Denisa Elena Ionete was appointed as head of the EU delegation in Chad, as evidence of “an increasingly consistent presence of Romania at this high level of the EU”. After 9 years, the only representative left is Denisa Elena Ionete, who has now been nominated EU ambassador to Djibouti.
Vice-President of the European Commission and representative for EU foreign policy, Josep Borell, on Tuesday, April 17, appointed the new representatives of the Union in the world. There are 44 heads of delegation and 11 deputies in the European External Action Service. The 55 women and men are responsible for the EU’s relations with the world, from Switzerland to Chile and from the Central African Republic to Canada.
In the list officially announced by the European Commission, there is the name of only one Romanian appears, a diplomat. Denisa Elena Ionete, who was appointed EU ambassador in Djibouti. “Currently, she holds the position of inspector and senior adviser within the EEAS (n.r. EU Diplomatic Service). Mrs. Ionete was previously the EU ambassador in Niger,” reads the note in the press release.
Before Niger, Denisa Elena Ionete was head of the EU delegation in Chad, starting in 2015. At the time of her appointment, the Romanian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, in which she celebrated the moment. Minister Bogdan Aurescu said that “this appointment confirms the quality of the Romanian experts who successfully represent us within the European institutions and contribute to ensuring an increasingly consistent presence of Romania in areas of major interest on the Union’s agenda”.
After 9 years, no other Romanian expert qualified in this diplomatic circle of the EU, for the new rotation. Denisa Elena Ionete worked for eight years (1998-2006) as a UNICEF program officer in Gabon, Nigeria, Palestine and Afghanistan. The diplomat was also a NATO official (June 2006 – September 2011) and head of the Fragility and Crisis Management Unit (2011 – 2015) within the European Commission.
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