Christoph Heusgen

Christoph Heusgen (right) with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, 2014

Christoph Heusgen (born 17 March 1955 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt) is a German diplomat who has been serving as German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York since July 2017.[1] He was Under-Secretary for Foreign and Security Policy in the German Chancellery from 2005 to 2017, and described as Angela Merkel's most influential foreign policy adviser.[2]

Early life and education

The son of pharmacists, Heusgen grew up in Neuss[3] where he attended Quirinus-Gymnasium.[4] During his highschool years, he spent a year as an exchange student at Western Reserve Academy, a boarding school in Hudson, Ohio.[5]

Heusgen studied economics in St. Gallen, at Georgia Southern University (GSU) and at Panthéon-Assas University in Paris, and obtained a doctorate in economics from the University of St. Gallen in 1980.

Career

Heusgen joined the diplomatic service of West Germany in 1980. His first postings abroad were Chicago and Paris. He later served as private secretary of the coordinator of German–French cooperation, Rainer Barzel, from 1988 to 1990. In 1990 he became an adviser in the European affairs department of the Federal Foreign Office. He was deputy principal private secretary in the private office of Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel from 1993 to 1997. He was under-secretary for European affairs in the Foreign Office from 1997.

From 1999 to 2005 Heusgen worked as Director of the Policy-Planning and Early Warning Unit in the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, in this capacity advising High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana.

In 2005 Heusgen became Under-Secretary for Foreign and Security Policy in the German Chancellery. In this capacity, he served as chief advisor on foreign and security policy to Chancellor Angela Merkel. By the end of his term, he was the longest-serving official in this position.[6]

In November 2016 it became known that Heusgen would succeed Harald Braun and be appointed Germany's Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations in New York in 2017.[7] In this capacity, he led the country’s campaign for the United Nations Security Council election in 2018.

Heusgen is a member of the Christian Democratic Union.

Other activities

Recognition

Controversy

In 2017, German newspaper Bild that Russian hacker group Fancy Bear, which is believed to be linked to Russian intelligence agency GRU, hacked into the United Nations’ email system and obtained Heusgen’s correspondences, including one which suggested that he helped his wife to get a job at the UN.[13]

Personal life

Heusgen is married to fellow career diplomat Ina Heusgen and has four children.[14] During his time at the Chancellery, he regularly invited foreign ambassadors to the Neuss Schützenfest in his hometown, including Phil Murphy in 2012,[15] Simon McDonald in 2014,[16] Philippe Étienne in 2015 and John B. Emerson in 2016.[17]

References

  1. ↑ New Permanent Representative of Germany Presents Credentials United Nations, press release of 26 July 2017.
  2. ↑ https://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/-jamaika---warum-keiner-mehr-aussenminister-sein-will-7699278.html
  3. ↑ Ludger Baten (September 6, 2017), Neuss: Heimatfreunde ehren UN-Botschafter Rheinische Post.
  4. ↑ Ludger Baten (December 22, 2016), Neuss: Merkels Welterklärer aus Neuss geht zur UN Rheinische Post.
  5. ↑ Matthew Karnitschnig (January 19, 2017,), Germany’s last Atlanticist confronts Trump Politico Europe.
  6. ↑ Ludger Baten (December 22, 2016), Neuss: Merkels Welterklärer aus Neuss geht zur UN Rheinische Post.
  7. ↑ Heusgen soll UN-Botschafter werden, 2016-11-28
  8. ↑ Honorary Advisory Council Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists.
  9. ↑ Members International Gender Champions (IGC).
  10. ↑ Council German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
  11. ↑ "Aufstellung aller durch den Bundespräsidenten verliehenen Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich ab 1952" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Claudia Ehrenstein, Robin Alexander: Am Schlossplatz wird getalkt. In: Die Welt, 17 October 2015, No. 242, p. 8.
  13. ↑ Judith Mischke (November 20, 2017), Russian hackers behind leak of UN diplomat’s email: report Politico Europe.
  14. ↑ New Permanent Representative of Germany Presents Credentials United Nations, press release of 26 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Ludger Baten (January 11, 2014), Christoph Heusgen berät die Bundeskanzlerin: Ein Neusser erklärt Merkel die Welt Rheinische Post.
  16. ↑ Ludger Baten (August 9, 2014), Der Botschafter der Queen kommt als Ehrengast zum Schützenfest Rheinische Post.
  17. ↑ Ludger Baten (July 28, 2017), Neuss: Ein Neusser in New York Rheinische Post.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.