Miguel Berger (born 14 January 1961 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 ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a German diplomat who has served as

German Ambassador to the United Kingdom The Embassy of Germany in London is the diplomatic mission of Germany in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located at Belgrave Square, in Belgravia. It occupies three of the original terraced houses in Belgrave Square and a late 20th-century ex ...

since May 2022. He was State Secretary at the

Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...

from 2020 to 2021.

Biography

Berger studied economics at the University of Mannheim and joined the German diplomatic service in 1988. After his training, he worked from 1990 to 1993 as a consultant for the German minority in Romania at the German Embassy in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. From 1993 to 1997, he was a press and political officer at the German Embassy in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. He then moved to the headquarters of the Federal Foreign Office. From 1997 to 1999, he worked there as a consultant in the Parliamentary and Cabinet Division in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, before becoming deputy director of the same division in Berlin at the Haus am Werderschen Markt from 1999 to 2002. From there, he moved to

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 * ...

, where he was deputy director of the Economic Department at the Permanent Mission of Germany 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 ...

until 2004. Berger then became Head of the German Representation Office in the

Palestinian Territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

before moving back to the Parliamentary and Cabinet Division in 2006, this time as Director. From June 2010 to July 2013, he was deputy director at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and served as Chairman of the Budget and Administration Committee of the 67th

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

from September 2012 to September 2013. During this period, Germany was a non-permanent member of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

for two years. In August 2013, Berger became Commissioner for Global Issues and Foreign Energy and Climate Policy in Berlin, but changed departments in July 2014 and became Regional Commissioner for the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

. Finally, in July 2016, he became Director of the Department for Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development, where he was responsible for

Instex The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) was a European special-purpose entity, special-purpose vehicle (SPV) established on 31 January 2019 and liquidated in March 2023. Its stated mission was to facilitate non-United States dollar, ...

, among other things. He was appointed State Secretary at the

on 4 May 2020. His predecessor Andreas Michaelis moved to London as ambassador. As State Secretary, Berger was responsible for the two political departments as well as the coordination of German foreign policy in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and the Crisis Commissioner. He was criticized for his handling of the evacuation of the German embassy in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

after the Fall of Kabul to the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

. Shortly after taking office as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Annalena Baerbock Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock (; born 15 December 1980) is a German politician and diplomat of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. She served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Germany's minister for foreign affairs from 2021 to 2025. I ...

decided in December 2021 to dismiss Berger and reinstate his predecessor Andreas Michaelis, former German ambassador to London, as State Secretary. Berger in turn became ambassador to the United Kingdom and was received by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 7 July 2022, to present his credentials. Miguel Berger is married and has one daughter Naxalli Lozano, a politician and activist.

Politics

He was described by ''Der Spiegel'' as "close to the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

(

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

)" and as a "Middle East expert".

References

External links

Curriculum Vitae Miguel Berger
German Embassy London {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Miguel 1961 births Living people People from Madrid Diplomats for Germany Ambassadors of Germany to the United Kingdom German people of Spanish descent Spanish people of German descent