Top EU diplomatic official to leave Brussels

One of the top officials in the European External Action Service is set to leave her post after just over a year in office.

Belén Martínez Carbonell is to stand down as secretary general of the EEAS, according to eight diplomats and officials with knowledge of the plans, all granted anonymity to speak freely. Two of them said Carbonell was already sharing the news with colleagues.

No timeline has been given for her departure.

The Spanish official, who has worked in the EEAS since 2010, took over as secretary general in February last year. She succeeded Italy’s Stefano Sannino, who is under investigation for alleged misuse of EU funds.

Two of the officials said Carbonell is set to take a posting in Latin America. Carbonell’s husband, Raúl Fuentes Milani, is the EU’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

In October last year, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ team created a new senior role in the service that saw some of Carbonell’s most important duties transferred to a deputy, including representing the EEAS at meetings with governments and ambassadors.

Martin Selmayr, who was chief of staff to former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, was the favorite to take the influential new post. However, opposition from the top of the European Commission sank his bid. Kallas instead appointed a fellow Estonian, Matti Maasikas, to oversee relations with ambassadors, in an arrangement one official described as “temporary.”

One of the diplomats said Carbonell had had to walk a tightrope between competing interests in the EEAS and European Commission. “She’s doing her best,” said the diplomat.

A European official, meanwhile, said of Carbonell’s departure that “it’s not clear if she’s leaving because she wants to but I don’t think she’s been treated very well.”

Asked to confirm the move, an EU official speaking on behalf of the EEAS said: “Belén is the secretary-general of the EEAS, currently on mission with the HRVP [Kallas] in Armenia for the [European Political Community] and EU-Armenia summit.”

A spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment further, and Carbonell did not respond to a request for comment.