Ashton to name new Afghanistan envoy

Former Lithuanian foreign minister is a favourite for post that combines EU and Commission roles.

Vygaudas Ušackas, who was forced to resign as Lithuania’s foreign minister last week, has emerged as a leading candidate to be the European Union’s new special envoy to Afghanistan, diplomats say.

Catherine Ashton, the Union’s foreign policy chief, told an international conference on Afghanistan held in London yesterday (28 January) that she would appoint a new EU special representative (EUSR) in the coming weeks to co-ordinate the EU’s security and development assistance to the country.

The deadline for applications closed yesterday, and a spokesperson for Ashton confirmed that six candidates had applied, including a Lithuanian and two Italians. Other applicants are from Hungary and Poland.

The two Italians are thought to be Fernando Gentilini, who was earlier this week replaced as NATO’s senior civilian representative in Kabul, and Ettore Francesco Sequi, the current EUSR for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sequi, who served as Italy’s ambassador to Afghanistan in 2004-2008, was appointed EUSR in July 2008.

Afghanistan strategy

Diplomats suggested that Ashton is looking for a strong figure who would play a leading role in implementing the international strategy for Afghanistan discussed in London yesterday, which has both military and civilian components. The Italians, they suggested, would not quite fit that profile.

The proposed EUSR put forward by Ashton will need the consent of the EU’s member states and, though he was Lithuania’s chief negotiator with the EU before it became a member and also as ambassador to both London and Washington, Ušackas could prove to be a controversial nominee. He was effectively forced to resign by Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė on 20 January at a time when accusations were being levelled at him that he knew about a secret detention facility operated by the US’ Central Intelligence Agency in Lithuania.

Double-hatting

The new envoy is to serve both as EUSR, reporting to Ashton, and as head of the EU delegation in Kabul, which was the Commission’s embassy in Afghanistan until the Lisbon treaty entered into force on 1 December. This model of ‘double-hatting’ – already in use in the EU’s missions to Macedonia and to the African Union – is to become the standard approach under the Lisbon treaty. Traditionally, the delegation of the European Commission has focused on development aid, while the EUSR has overseen the political and security side of the EU’s engagement. In Afghanistan, as elsewhere, the EU now wants to bring the development, security and political dimension together under a single person. The EU is running a police training mission in the country that has had a mixed record so far.

The mandate of Sequi and the other ten EUSRs around the world expires at the end of February. Member states’ diplomats are currently discussing whether to extend their term in office in order to give Ashton more time to manage the transition from the pre-Lisbon system.