Marc Otte (born 26 April 1947 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) is a Belgian diplomat who was 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 ...

's Special Representative to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

peace process from 14 July 2003 until 28 February 2011. He currently serves as Director General of the Egmont Institute.

Education and early career

Otte holds an MA in Political and Social Sciences, from the University of Leuven, 1969, and did post-graduate work at the university's Institute for Developing Countries. Afterwards he taught in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, where he later served in the embassy.

Career in diplomacy

Over the following few decades Otte held various positions in the Belgian

Foreign service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

, including

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(1988–1992) and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Israel (1992–96). As of 1 March 2011, Otte's duties as EU envoy to the

Middle East Quartet The Quartet on the Middle East or Middle East Quartet, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the Israeli ...

were covered temporarily by Helga Schmid, then deputy secretary general for political affairs of the European diplomatic service. On 23 January 2012 Andreas Reinicke was appointed as the new

's Special Representative for the Middle East Peace process. In February 2020, Otte joined around fifty former European prime ministers and foreign ministers in signing an open letter published by British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' to condemn

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

’s Middle East peace plan, saying it would create an

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

-like situation in occupied Palestinian territory.

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR), Member *

European Institute of Peace The European Institute of Peace (EIP) is an independent, non-profit public foundation that contributes to shaping conflict resolution. Its activities range from facilitating high-level, quiet dialogues between political actors to local commun ...

(EIP), Vice-President of the Board of GovernorsAdvisory Council

(EIP).

References

External links

PhotoOfficial CV from Council of the European Union websiteMission statement of Marc Otte
Living people 1947 births European Union diplomats Université catholique de Louvain alumni Belgian diplomats Ambassadors of Belgium to Israel Belgian officials of the European Union {{Belgium-diplomat-stub