Marc Otte (born 26 April 1947 in Brussels) is a Belgian diplomat who was the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's Special Representative to the

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peace process from 14 July 2003 until 28 February 2011. He currently serves as Director General of the Egmont Institute.

Education and early career

Otte holds an MA in Political and Social Sciences, from the University of Leuven, 1969, and did post-graduate work at the university's Institute for Developing Countries. Afterwards he taught in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, where he later served in the embassy.

Career in diplomacy

Over the following few decades Otte held various positions in the Belgian

Foreign service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

, including

consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

in Los Angeles (1988–1992) and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Israel (1992–96). As of 1 March 2011, Otte's duties as EU envoy to the

Middle East Quartet The Quartet on the Middle East or Middle East Quartet, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and Supranational union, supranational entities involved in me ...

were covered temporarily by Helga Schmid, then deputy secretary general for political affairs of the European diplomatic service. On 23 January 2012 Andreas Reinicke was appointed as the new

's Special Representative for the Middle East Peace process. In February 2020, Otte joined around fifty former European prime ministers and foreign ministers in signing an open letter published by British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' to condemn

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Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's Middle East peace plan, saying it would create an

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-like situation in occupied Palestinian territory.

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), Member * European Institute of Peace (EIP), vice-president of the board of governorsAdvisory Council
European Institute of Peace (EIP).

References

External links

PhotoOfficial CV from Council of the European Union websiteMission statement of Marc Otte
Living people 1947 births European Union diplomats Université catholique de Louvain alumni Belgian diplomats Ambassadors of Belgium to Israel Belgian officials of the European Union {{Belgium-diplomat-stub