In the game of European appointments

The game of musical chairs surrounding European and diplomatic appointments is taking shape. The European Commission has appointed Italian Vice-President Raffaele Fitto as Special Representative for Cyprus. His role will be to support, within the framework of the United Nations, efforts to restart the peace process between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot community and to achieve the reunification of the island, which remains divided following the Turkish occupation of 1974. For Fitto, this is an additional role, built upon his experience in European governance, regional cooperation and institutional dialogue.

The Council of the EU has instead appointed Dirk Schübel of Germany, head of the Russia division of the European External Action Service, as the new Special Representative for Kosovo. The mandates of Luigi Soreca of Italy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Annette Weber of Germany in the Horn of Africa have also been renewed. The post for the Sahel remains unfilled: the candidacy of the Slovenian Tanja Fajon was blocked by Janez Janša’s government for political reasons.

The Paris dossier is a more sensitive issue for Italy. Emanuela D’Alessandro has left the Italian Embassy in France after four years to return to the Quirinale as diplomatic adviser to Sergio Mattarella, a post she previously held from 2015 to 2022. The post remains formally vacant and is being managed on an interim basis. At the Farnesina, speculation is circulating that the successor could be Riccardo Guariglia, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A former ambassador to Poland and Spain, Guariglia is one of the most influential career diplomats and is well versed in French affairs, not least due to his work on the Treaty of the Quirinale. His possible appointment would carry a specific significance: entrusting relations with Paris to the Farnesina’s senior management, thereby strengthening a bilateral relationship that is central but often fraught with political tensions. At present, however, no official decision has been taken: the Guariglia speculation is credible, but he himself does not appear to have any intention of changing roles.