Mihnea Ioan Motoc () is a Romanian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

of Romania between November 2015 and January 2017, in the

Cioloș Cabinet The Cioloș Cabinet was the 125th Government of Romania. It was led by Dacian Cioloș, who was appointed Prime Minister of Romania on 10 November 2015, after the resignation of Victor Ponta amid mass protests against generalised corruption linke ...

. Before this appointment, he was the country's ambassador to 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 ...

between 2008 and 2015, and briefly the country's ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He is currently the Principal Adviser in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action (IDEA) department.

Work history

Motoc has been a Romanian diplomat since the early 1990s, when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania. For most of the 1990s Motoc spent time in various Romanian government posts. He joined 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 2003, where he spent five years working as the Permanent Representative of Romania. In 2008, he left his post at the UN to become the Permanent Representative of Romania to the

. He held this position until becoming Ambassador of Romania to London for a few months in 2015. In November 2015, he was appointed

in the

and held the position until January 2017.

Education

Motoc studied law at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

from 1984 until 1989. Following this he went on to achieve a Certificate of post-graduate studies in Private International Law from the

University of Nice A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1991 and a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Public International and Comparative Law from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

a year later.

Honors

* Commander, National Order for Merit (Romania) * President of National Security Authority * Head of the Romanian Negotiations Team with the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

* Conducted negotiations within UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, EU and Neighboring Treaties negotiations * Member of the Permanent Inter-ministerial Committee for European Integration * Monitor for” acquis communautaire” on Common Foreign Security Policy * President of the Inter-Departmental Commission for Romania's accession to NATO * National Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe * Member of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission * Vice-chairman for the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Personal life

Mihnea Motoc was born on 11 November 1966 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 ...

. He is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He is married to

Iulia Motoc Iulia Antoanella Motoc (born 20 August 1967) is a Romanian judge and international law expert, currently a judge of the International Criminal Court. Before beginning her service at the court, she was a judge at the European Court of Human Righ ...

, Judge at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

with whom he has one son, Luca-Mihnea.

References

Interview
in

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

Living people 1966 births Ministers of defence of Romania Permanent representatives of Romania to the European Union Permanent representatives of Romania to the United Nations Ambassadors of Romania to the United Kingdom Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania) {{Romania-politician-stub