Dirk Wouters (born 1955) was

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

's ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Education

Wouters earned a B.A. degree in law and economics at the University of Antwerp in 1975, a Master of Laws at the University of Leuven in 1978 and an M.S. at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in 1979.

Diplomatic career

Wouters started his diplomatic career in the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs in 1980, where he worked in the Consular and Disarmament Division and joined the Belgian delegation to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in 1986. In 1995, he moved to the United States to work on political, military, and development issues as deputy permanent representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He also helped establish the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

. From 2001 to 2003, Wouters served as coordinator of the Belgian Presidency and head of the Department for European Coordination and Integration. He was appointed Permanent representative to the EU Political and Security Committee in 2003 and in 2009 became diplomatic adviser to the prime minister. Wouters became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to the

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and dealt mainly with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

policy. In 2011, Wouters was appointed Belgium's Permanent representative to the EU and stayed in that position until he moved to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in 2016. From 2016 to 2020, Wouters was Belgium's ambassador to the United States of America.

Personal life

Wouters is married with one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wouters, Dirk 1955 births Living people University of Antwerp alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Université catholique de Louvain alumni Ambassadors of Belgium to the United States