NATO has formalized this Tuesday the appointment of the Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina -close collaborator of the outgoing Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg- as the first Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood. This is a newly created position whose task will be to coordinate All the efforts of the Alliance in the Sahel and in Africa as a whole.
Colomina’s appointment, which was leaked last week, has angered the government of Giorgia Meloniwho was hoping to place one of his own in the post. The Italian ambassador to NATO, Marco Peronaci, wrote a letter of protest to Stoltenberg in which he expressed his “big surprise and disappointment”. He also complained that the Secretary-General made this strategic decision “at the end of his mandate and without adequate consultation with the Allies.”
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajanihe said this Monday in Brussels who hopes that the new Secretary General, Mark Ruttewho will take office on October 1, “be more balanced and respectful with Italian requests.” Rome’s complaints have not affected Stoltenberg, who has gone ahead with the appointment.
[Meloni protesta por la intención de la OTAN de nombrar a un español como jefe del flanco sur]
“It is an honour to be appointed as the first Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood of the Secretary General of NATO. Looking forward coordinate and enhance the visibility of NATO efforts in the South and strengthen NATO’s partnership with the region,” Colomina wrote on her X account after her election was made official.
Javier Colomina has held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Security Policy since 2021 and has served as Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General for the Caucasus and Central Asia. He entered the diplomatic service in 2001 working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He has served in the Spanish mission to the UN in New York and in the embassies in Damascus, Buenos Aires and Tokyo. His career in the Atlantic Alliance began in 2017 as Spain’s deputy permanent representative, a post he held for four years before becoming a close associate of Stoltenberg.
NATO’s involvement throughout the Sahel and Africa is One of the priorities of Pedro Sánchez’s Governmentwhich succeeded in having this issue included for the first time in the strategic concept during the Madrid summit in 2022.
At the last meeting of the Atlantic Alliance held in Washington at the beginning of July, the leaders approved a Action plan for the southern flankwhose priority is to strengthen political dialogue with countries in the region and to help strengthen the security and defence capabilities of countries that so request. This will be supported by joint NATO funding.
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