30/08/2014 10:31
EU leaders to pick new foreign policy chief
European Union leaders are set to decide who will be the 28-nation bloc's foreign policy chief for the next five years, with Italy's top diplomat Federica Mogherini widely seen as the front-runner for the prestigious job, The Associated Press reported.
The decision on incumbent Catherine Ashton's successor comes as the crisis at the EU's eastern border pitting Ukraine against Russia poses one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the bloc in decades.
Ashton, whose term ends in October, has been a frequent interlocutor for U.S. secretaries of state and chairs the negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.
The 41-year-old center-left politician Mogherini, in turn, has been Italy's foreign minister only since February, drawing criticism that she lacks experience.
"No one claims that Mogherini is the best person to deal with Russia," said Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institute think-tank. "Foreign policy is almost entirely absent from the discussion.”
Mogherini's appointment would be part of a deal that includes dishing out other top EU jobs, with leaders seeking to agree on a package that reflects Europe's political landscape, geographical diversity and gender balance.