Giles Portman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| British Ambassador to Romania | |
| Assumed office October 2023 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Noble |
| Personal details | |
| Occupation | British Diplomat |
Giles Portman is a British diplomat, [1] currently serving as the British Ambassador to Romania, [2] since October 2023. Prior to this, his senior roles in the His Majesty's Diplomatic Service include Director for Europe, Director for EU Exit, [3] and Deputy Head of Mission Turkey. [4]
He was awarded a scholarship at Oxford University and studied Classics and English at Lady Margaret Hall. [5]
From 2003-6 he was the United Kingdom's negotiator for EU enlargement, concluding the talks over Bulgaria and Romania's entry to the European Union, and chairing EU negotiations for the start of accession talks with Croatia and Turkey.
From 2011 to 2019 he worked in the European External Action Service. [6] From 2011 to 2015 he was an Adviser to the EU High Representative/Vice President. From 2015 to 2019 he led the East Stratcom Task Force, set up by EU Heads of State and Government to identify, analyse and respond to Russian disinformation. In 2019 East Stratcom's work was recognised through the award of the medal of honour "Diplomacy Star of Lithuania", the highest distinction of the Lithuanian diplomatic service [7]
He was a member of the Council of Experts of the Democratic Progress Institute, [8] a London-based NGO focused on conflict resolution, from 2015 to 2019.
He was cited in 2004 in discussions in the Czech Senate over changing the name of the Czech Republic to Czechia in English.
His wife Lucie is the great grand-daughter of Czechoslovak statesman and economist Karel Engliš.
The Byelorussian SSR was one of only two Soviet republics to be separate members of the United Nations. Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded in 1945.
After achieving independence from the Soviet Union, the Republic of Moldova established relations with other European countries. A course for European Union integration and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines.
Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger is a German diplomat who served as chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022.
Günter Verheugen is a German politician who served as European Commissioner for Enlargement from 1999 to 2004, and then as European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from 2004 to 2010. He was also one of five vice presidents of the 27-member Barroso Commission. After his retirement, he is now honorary Professor at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder).
Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987.
Alexander Sebastian Léonce Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, commonly known as Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, who has been serving as the German ambassador to Russia since 2023.
Russia–European Union relations are the international relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Russia borders five EU member states: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded by EU members. Until the radical breakdown of relations following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU was Russia's largest trading partner and Russia had a significant role in the European energy sector. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed all member states of the European Union on a list of "unfriendly countries", along with Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United States, NATO members, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Micronesia and Ukraine.
Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria "Frans" Timmermans is a Dutch politician who most recently served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner for Climate Action in the von der Leyen Commission from 2019 until his resignation in 2023. He is a member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the governmental body responsible for conducting foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry is responsible for Turkey's diplomatic missions abroad and for the promotion of Turkish culture, as well as for implementing the country's foreign policy in accordance with its national interests. Established on 2 May 1920, its primary duties are administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the Republic of Turkey at the United Nations. The ministry is headquartered in the Turkish capital of Ankara and counts on more than 200 missions as embassies, permanent representation offices and consulates general, abroad. As of 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains 235 diplomatic posts worldwide. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Hakan Fidan, who has held the position since 3 June 2023.
Miroslav Lajčák is a Slovak politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In addition, Lajčák also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session from 2017 until 2018.
The Republic of Bulgaria is a country in Southeast Europe, and a member of both NATO and the European Union. It maintains diplomatic relations with 183 countries.
Polish–Turkish relations are the foreign relations between Poland and Turkey. Both countries are full members of NATO, OECD, OSCE, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organisation. Poland is a member of the European Union, Turkey is not a member.
Adrian Anthony Basora is an American diplomat, and former United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic. He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute researching democratization in the post-Communist states of Europe and Central Asia, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Štefan Füle is a former Czech diplomat who served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy from February 2010 until October 2014.
On 28 February 2022, four days after it was invaded by Russia, Ukraine applied for membership of the European Union (EU). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested immediate admission under a "new special procedure", and the presidents of eight EU states called for an accelerated accession process. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that she supports Ukrainian accession, but that the process would take time. On 10 March 2022, the Council of the European Union asked the commission for its opinion on the application. On 8 April 2022, von der Leyen presented Zelenskyy with a legislative questionnaire, which Ukraine responded to on 9 May.
Ion Jinga is a Romanian diplomat working in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1992. Between 9 April 2003 and 7 March 2008 he served as the Romanian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and between 7 March 2008 and 4 August 2015 he held the position of Ambassador of Romania to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. On 4 August 2015, he started his term as Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations in New York. He and his wife Daniela have one daughter, Daria.
Jozef Šesták is a Slovak diplomat, expert on international negotiations in the field of foreign policy and diplomacy. His highest position: State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. His highest diplomatic rank: Ambassador.
The United States Mission to the European Union (USEU) is the diplomatic mission of the United States to the European Union; it is based in Brussels, Belgium. The US has maintained diplomatic relations with the EU and its predecessors since 1953. The first predecessor of the current mission was the US diplomatic mission to the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg, which opened in 1956. In 1961, the US Mission to the European Communities was established in Brussels, which later became the United States Mission to the European Union, upon the latter's establishment in 1993.
The East StratCom Task Force (ESCTF) is a part of the European External Action Service, focused on "effective communication" and promotion of European Union activities in Eastern Europe and beyond. The task force's flagship project is EUvsDisinfo, a database of articles and media which the organization considers as providing false, distorted or partial information.