Carlos Westendorp
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Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (born 7 January 1937) is a Spanish diplomat and former politician who served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
from 1995 to 1996. He also served as
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992 to 1995 Bos ...
, succeeding
Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...
and was tasked with upholding the
Dayton Peace Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, Дејтонски мировни споразум), and colloquially kn ...
from 1997 to 1999.


Career

Born in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
on 7 January 1937, Westendorp joined the Spanish Diplomatic Service in 1966. Following several assignments abroad (from 1966 to 1969: Deputy Consul General in São Paulo, Brazil; from 1975 to 1979: Commercial and Economic Counselor at the Spanish Embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands) and in Spain (1969–1975: Head of Economic Studies at the Diplomatic School; Director of Technological Agreements in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Industry) he dedicated a great part of his professional career to the process of integration of Spain into the European Communities. Between 1979 and 1985 at the Ministry of European Affairs, he successively served as Adviser to the Minister, as Head of the Minister’s Private Office and as Secretary General, presiding over the technical team in charge of the accession negotiations. In 1986, when Spain joined the European Communities, he was appointed its first Ambassador Permanent Representative. He chaired the
Committee of Permanent Representatives COREPER, from French ''Comité des représentants permanents'', is the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made up of the head or deputy head of mission from the EU member states in Brussels. COREPER's defined role ...
(COREPER) during the first Spanish Presidency of the EEC in 1989. From 1991 to 1995 he was Spain’s Secretary of State for the European Union. He was centrally involved in the Spanish Presidency of the EU in 1995, which coincided with the adoption of the Euro, the launching of the Barcelona process and the signing of the transatlantic agenda. In this last capacity, he chaired the Reflection group set up to prepare the negotiations on treaty change, which led to the Treaties of Amsterdam and, subsequently, Nice. In December 1995, he was appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
and served in that capacity until the end of the last government presided by
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically- ...
. In May 1996 he was appointed Ambassador Permanent Representative of Spain to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. From 1997 to 1999 he served as the 2nd
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992 to 1995 Bos ...
. Under the so called "Bonn Powers" his role gave him the authority to take the necessary decisions to implement the
Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, Дејтонски мировни споразум), and colloquially kn ...
. His first act with these new powers was laws on citizenship, and later imposed a new
flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
and
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
. He was involved in removing
Nikola Poplašen Nikola Poplašen (Никола Поплашен; born 15 December 1951) is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He was the president of Republika Srpska from late 1998 to 1999. He was removed by the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, C ...
from power despite Poplašen being elected president. In 1999, he was elected
Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
representing the
PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
. He served as Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Trade, Energy and Research until 2003. In 2003, he was elected Member of the Madrid Regional Assembly and Speaker on Economy of the Socialist Group. He was co-founder and executive vice-president of the Toledo Center for Peace and is now a member of its board. After the elections of 2004, he was appointed Ambassador to the United States of America, a position he occupied until 2008. In April 2010, he was appointed Secretary-General of the
Club de Madrid Club de Madrid is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. It is composed of 127 regular members from 74 countries, including 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 2 ...
. He is currently the principal advisor to Felipe González, Chairman of the Reflection Group established by the EU Heads of State and Government to assist the European Union to anticipate and meet the challenges facing in the period 2020 to 2030. He is president of Westendorp International S.L., a private consulting company. He has addressed conferences and lectures and has written articles and books mostly on European Affairs, for which he was awarded the
Salvador de Madariaga Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo (23 July 1886 – 14 December 1978) was a Spanish "eminent liberal", diplomat, writer, historian and pacifist who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded the Charl ...
Prize of Journalism. He has been awarded various Spanish and foreign decorations, including the Great Cross of the Order of Charles III and Officier de la
Légion d’Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
.


References


External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Westendorp, Carlos 1937 births Living people Politicians from Madrid Spanish people of Dutch descent Foreign ministers of Spain Permanent representatives of Spain to the United Nations Permanent representatives of Spain to the European Union Ambassadors of Spain to the United States High Representatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina Flag designers Members of the 6th Assembly of Madrid Members of the 7th Assembly of Madrid Spanish officials of the European Union MEPs for Spain 1999–2004 Members of the Socialist Parliamentary Group (Assembly of Madrid) Secretaries of State for the European Union Spanish people of German descent