Guillaume Metten (19 July 1938, Argenteau - 13 November 2020,

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

) was a senior

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

diplomat and ambassador to Iran, India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives,, Sri Lanka, Morocco, and Mauritania. After his retirement in 2003, he became vice president of the

European Institute for International Law and International Relations The European Institute for International Law and International Relations (EIIR) in French (Institut européen pour le Droit international et les Relations internationales) is an independent policy institute and N.P. organisation based in Paris, ...

Career

Metten joined the Belgian diplomacy in 1965 and was assigned to the

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

Embassy as attaché from 1967 to 1970. He passed a commercial exam from the central Belgian administration and became Secretary in the

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Embassy from 1971 to 1972. From there, he was appointed First Secretary of the

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

Embassy (1972-1975). He worked as the designated counsellor in the Office of the Minister for Cooperation and Development (1975-1977), a counsellor in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(1977-1980), and Minister-Counsellor in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

(1981-1982). He was then Deputy Chief of Staff for

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, ...

Leo Tindemans Leonard Clemence "Leo" Tindemans (; 16 April 1922 – 26 December 2014) was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium from 25 April 1974 until he resigned as minister on 20 October 1978. He was a member of the Christian D ...

from 1982 to 1985. His first ambassador role came in 1985, when he was placed in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

with responsibility to seven West African countries. In 1989, he left

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

for a new position as Belgian Ambassador to Morocco in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

. Mauritania approved him as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in 1991. He then worked as Chief of Field Staff in the Belgian central administration between 1992 and 1995 before being assigned as Ambassador to India in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, a role he held until 1999. Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka were also under his jurisdiction at this time. His final assignment was as Ambassador to Iran; he lived in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

from 28 October 1999 to 19 February 2003, when he was honorably discharged so he could retire. He was promoted to Administrative First Class on 1 October 2001. Metten spent his days in retirement focused on Middle Eastern and North African issues. He wrote several papers and attended conferences internationally. He was also Director of Research in the department of international relations at the

. In June 2011, he was one of six former European ambassadors who published an op-ed supporting Iran's right to own nuclear technology as part of the standing international agreement for mutually-assured destruction. The other ambassadors who co-authored the paper were Richard Dalton (UK), Steen Hohwü-Christensen (Sweden), Paul von Maltzahn (Germany), Guillaume Metten (Belgium), François Nicoullaud (France), and

Roberto Toscano Roberto Toscano (born October 3, 1943) is an Italians, Italian diplomat who served as ambassador to India and Iran. Biography Toscano was born in Parma on October 3, 1943, and holds a law degree from the University of Parma and an MA from the ...

(Italy).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metten, Guillaume Ambassadors of Belgium to Bhutan Ambassadors of Belgium to India Ambassadors of Belgium to Iran Ambassadors of Belgium to the Maldives Ambassadors of Belgium to Mauritania Ambassadors of Belgium to Morocco Ambassadors of Belgium to Nepal Ambassadors of Belgium to Senegal Ambassadors of Belgium to Sri Lanka Belgian diplomats 1938 births 2020 deaths People from Visé Diplomats from Brussels