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Stefano Sannino (born 24 December 1959 in Portici) is an Italian
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 3rd Class / Commander – December 27, 2011
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and European civil servant
The European Civil Service is a generic term applied to all staff serving the institutions and agencies of the European Union (EU). Although recruitment is sometimes done jointly, each institution is responsible for its own internal structures a ...
.
Career
After studying political science at the University of Naples, Sannino entered the Italian diplomatic service in 1986. He served as deputy chief of mission at the Italian embassy in Belgrade (1994–96), before being seconded to the Italian government as head of office of the secretary of state for foreign affairs in thefirst Prodi government
The first Prodi government was the 53rd government of Italy. It held office from 18 May 1996 until 21 October 1998.
Formation
On 21 April 1996, the Olive Tree won 1996 general election in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), ...
(1996–98).
In 1998-2001, Sannino was 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 Italy’s trade ministers Piero Fassino
Piero Franco Rodolfo Fassino (born 7 October 1949) is an Italian politician with the Democratic Party. He was Mayor of Turin from 2011 until 2016 and is a former national secretary of the Democrats of the Left party.
, and then Enrico Letta.
He then went back to diplomacy, and to Belgrade, as head of the OSCE mission in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (2001–02).
Sannino began his career at the European Commission in 2002 as an adviser for external relations and trade in the cabinet of the then President of the European Commission
The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...
Romano Prodi, together with Sandro Gozi
Sandro Gozi () (born 25 March 1968 in Sogliano al Rubicone) is an Italian politician formerly of the Democratic Party who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2020. He was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2018 ...
. He was Director for Crisis Management and Representative of the Commission to the Political and Security Committee (2004–2006), before following Prodi in his second term as Italy's Prime Minister in 2006-08, as diplomatic adviser.
Back in Brussels in 2008, Sannino served as Director for relations with Latin America (2008- 2009), and Deputy Director-General for External Relations in charge of Asia and Latin America (2009-2010). He then moved to the Directorate-General for Enlargement
The Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The body is responsible for the enlargement process of the European Union and for the European Neighbourhood Po ...
of the European Commission, where he was Deputy Director-General from 2010 to 2011 and Director-General from April 2011 to July 2013. He left this post to become Italy's Permanent Representative to the EU in 2013, appointed by the new Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
In January 2016, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi decided to replace Sannino with the Deputy Minister for Industry, Carlo Calenda
Carlo Calenda (born 9 April 1973) is an Italian business executive and politician. On 10 May 2016, he was appointed Minister of Economic Development in the government of Matteo Renzi and continued in that role in the government of Renzi's success ...
. The move is controversial, as Calenda is the first non-diplomat to serve in the post of Permanent Representative to the EU, and had only recently joined Renzi's PD. Sannino will instead appointed as Italian ambassador to Spain. (Calenda will leave the post merely two months later, appointed by Renzi as new Minister for Economic Development)
In February 2020, the new EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, appointed Sannino as Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Global Affairs of the European External Action Service. In December 2020, he was appointed new Secretary General of the European External Action Service, to replace Helga Schmid, starting from 2021.
Other activities
* European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), MemberHonors
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 3rd Class / Commander – December 27, 2011
See also
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy) * Foreign relations of Italy * European External Action ServicePersonal life
Sannino is married with Catalan Santiago Mondragón Vial. He received the Transexualia 2016 prize, for his support to the social inclusion of trans persons in Spain, and the LGBT Andalucía prize (together with the former US Ambassador to Spain,James Costos
James Costos (born 1963) is an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2013 to 2017. He was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2013.
Outside of hi ...
) for his efforts in the fight against homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. In 2018, he raised the rainbow flag on the Italian Embassy in the occasion of the Madrid Pride.
Sources