Federica Mogherini

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Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Assumed office
1 November 2014
PresidentJean-Claude Juncker
Preceded byCatherine Ashton
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
21 February 2014 – 31 October 2014
Prime MinisterMatteo Renzi
Preceded byEmma Bonino
Succeeded byPaolo Gentiloni
Personal details
Born (1973-06-16) 16 June 1973 (age 50)
Rome, Italy
Political partyDemocratic Party
SpouseMatteo Rebesani
Children2
Alma materSapienza University of Rome

Federica Mogherini (born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician and diplomat who serves as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission in the Juncker Commission since 1 November 2014.

Mogherini was Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 21 February 2014 until 31 October 2014 in the centre-left Cabinet of Matteo Renzi.[1]

She is a member of the Italian Democratic Party and the Party of European Socialists.

Biography

Early life

Federica Mogherini was born on 16 June 1973 in Rome, Italy, to the family of the film director and set designer Flavio Mogherini (1922–1994).

Private life

Mogherini married Matteo Rebesani, son of Colonel Domenico Rebesani, by whom she has two daughters: Caterina (b. 2005) and Marta (b. 2010).

Education

Mogherini attended the Sapienza University of Rome where she studied Political Science graduating with a Diploma in Political Philosophy with a thesis entitled "Relationship between religion and politics in Islam",[2][3] which she wrote whilst on the Erasmus programme at Aix-en-Provence, France.

Political activity

Federica Mogherini representing Italy at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

A member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation from 1988, in 1996 Mogherini joined the Youth Left after the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party before its transformation into a social democratic party. In 2001 she became a member of the National Council of the Democrats of the Left (DS), later serving on its National Executive Board and Political Committee. In 2003 she started working at the DS's Foreign Affairs Section, where she was given responsibility for relations with international movements and parties, later becoming the team's coordinator; after that she was given responsibility for Foreign Affairs and International Relations on the DS Party Chairman's staff: Piero Fassino. In this role, she oversaw relations with Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Middle East peace process. Mogherini was in charge of maintaining relations with the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International and other Left-wing parties, including with the US Democratic Party.

After the formation of the Italian Democratic Party (PD), on 4 November 2007, Mogherini was appointed to the staff of its founding chairman Walter Veltroni (with whom she had already worked as assistant during his term as Mayor of Rome).

In 2008 Mogherini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the constituency of Veneto. Serving in the 16th legislature, she became Secretary of its Defence Committee, a member of the Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe, and of the Italy's Parliamentary Delegation to the Western European Union.

On 24 February 2009, she was appointed to the staff of the incoming chairman of the PD Dario Franceschini, with responsibility for Equal Opportunities. Since then she has been notable as a member of Franceschini's faction (Area Democratica).[4] She has also served as Vice-President of the Italy-USA Foundation.[5]

In February 2013 Mogherini was returned to parliament for the Emilia-Romagna constituency. During the 17th Italian legislature she served again on the Defence Committee (replacing Lapo Pistelli after he was appointed Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs), on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, and later its President from April 2013. On 1 August 2013 she was elected as head of the Italian delegation to the parliamentary assembly of NATO.[6]

Federica Mogherini in 2014.

On 9 December 2013, the new chairman of the PD Matteo Renzi appointed Mogherini to his staff, with the responsibility of European Relations.

Mogherini is a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.[6]

Italian government minister

Mogherini joined the Renzi Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the third woman to hold this post following Susanna Agnelli and Emma Bonino, and the youngest so far. Her first public engagement following her appointment was to meet, along with Italy's Defence Minister, the wives of Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the two Italian marines detained in India after the Enrica Lexie incident.

Under her direction, the Foreign Ministry has worked for the release of Mariam Ibrahim. Italy's good relations with the Sudan can be attributed to the release of this Sudanese woman who was finally permitted to fly to Italy on a government plane.[7][8]

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

In July 2014, given the large number of Italian MEPs belonging to the S&D group following the European election, 2014, the European Council gave consideration to her name as a candidate for the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Jean-Claude Juncker's new Commission. On the 13th July 2014, the Financial Times among other European newspapers reported that her nomination proposal had been opposed by some eastern European countries, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, where her stance towards Russia concerning the Ukrainian crisis was considered to be too soft.

Nonetheless, on 2 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect Juncker, as Italy's official candidate for EU Commissioner.

On 30 August, Europe's socialist Prime Ministers met prior to the convening of the European Council, at which she received the approval of the Party of European Socialists. On the same day the President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council has decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014.

At her first press conference she declared her efforts will be devoted to establishing discussions between Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis between the two countries. On November 8, 2014 she stated that "Gaza and the world "cannot afford" another war" prompting critics to ask what world she lives in.

Criticism

Criticism of Mogherini ranges from claims of her being pro-Russian and too close to the Kremlin, to not taking the threat of Russia seriously during the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. The President of Lithuania has publicly called her pro-Kremlin.[9][10][11][12] Her first nomination as EU foreign policy chief was blocked by Eastern European EU member states.[13] On the other hand, some deemed Mogherini's approach to Russia as no different than the one taken by Germany or France.[14]

In addition, though she has since removed pictures of her 2002 visit with Yasser Arafat from her blog, there remains speculation that Mogherini's sympathies may not be entirely neutral, and possibly anti the state of Israel.[15] The pictures of the pair together remain widely available.

Mogherini was criticized for possible conflict of interest as her lead spokeswoman, Catherine Ray, is married to a prominent lobbyist of the Russian government-owned company Gazprom.[16] [17]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Italy's Mogherini and Poland's Tusk get top EU jobs". BBC News. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Mogherini: Italy's young rising star". AFP. 2014-08-30. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  3. ^ Vincenti, Daniela (2014-08-30). "Profile: Federica Mogherini, the next EU foreign affairs chief". EurActiv. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  4. ^ "A Matteo manca solo la fiducia". L'Unità (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Uragano Sandy, Mogherini: "Solidarietà e amicizia al popolo americano, gli USA sapranno reagire"=". 30 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b url = http://www.blogmog.it/index.cfm?target=chisono
  7. ^ "Sudan: amb. in Italia, Meriam a Roma grazie a amicizia tra nostri paesi". Adnkronos (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Woman who faced death for faith is free". CNN website.
  9. ^ Wright, Thomas (28 August 2014). "Mogherini is the Wrong Choice for Europe". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  10. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Neil Macfarquhar (30 August 2014). "Russia Pushing Ukraine Conflict to 'Point of No Return,' E.U. Leader Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Tusk and Mogherini – A Good Lesson". Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Tusk, Mogherini Named to Top EU Posts Amid Russia Discord". Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Who is Federica Mogherini - the new woman in charge of EU foreign policy?". Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Diligent Italian leftist accused of pro-Russian bias By Alvise Armellini, dpa". Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  15. ^ "Mogherini, la fan di Arafat che dorme con "Bella ciao"". Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Spokeswoman For EU's Foreign Policy Chief Married To Gazprom Lobbyist". Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Germany Demands That Russia Adhere To Ukraine Truce Deal". Retrieved 10 November 2014.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Fernando Nelli Feroci
 Italian European Commissioner
2014–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
2014–present

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