Miguel Ángel Moratinos

Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé ( born June 8, 1951 in Madrid ) is a Spanish diplomat, lawyer and politician. From 2004 to 2010 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation in the Zapatero government. Moratinos is a member of the Social Democratic party PSOE. With the Spanish EU Presidency Moratinos Cuyaubé took over on 1 January 2010 the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. In 2007, he was scheduled legitimate President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Career

After law and political science studies Moratinos took the diplomatic career and worked from 1974 to 1979 in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as director of East European affairs. Then he gained foreign policy experience in the Spanish Embassy in Yugoslavia (until 1984 ) and Morocco ( to 1987 ). From 1987 to 1991 he was Under General Director for North Africa; thereafter he worked at the Institute for Cooperation with the Arab world and as of 1993 was Director General for Foreign Policy in Africa and the Middle East. He was for six months ambassador to Israel in 1996, before he was appointed EU Special Representative for the Middle East peace process. This office he held until 2003.

2004 Moratinos was chosen for the PSOE in the Spanish Parliament ( Congreso de Deputies ) and appointed by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for Foreign and Development Ministers on 20 April. One of the first actions for which he was responsible in this office, was one of the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, triggering a diplomatic crisis between prolonged Spain and the USA. Another focus of his official duties was initiated in 2004 by Spain and Turkey, the Alliance of Civilizations. In 2007, Spain also tried to initiate a human rights dialogue with the Cuban government, for which Moratinos was criticized sharply by some of the Spanish opposition party PP.

In a cabinet reshuffle on 20 October 2010 Moratinos was replaced by Trinidad Jiménez.