In representation of the Portuguese government, the Secretary of State for European Affairs Pedro Lourtie welcomes the appointment, by High Representative Catherine Ashton of Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias as Head of the EU Delegation to Brazil.

The Ambassador is the first Portuguese diplomat to head an EU delegation under the new European External Action Service framework.

This appointment recognizes national diplomacy's merit and capability.

Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias' appointment to one of the EU's most important posts was subject to a rigorous selection process involving candidates of different nationalities.

Therefore, Portugal, in this rotation will head a Delegation which is considered a priority in Portugal's participation in the European External Action Service. The EU and Brazil maintain a strategic partnership launched during the Portuguese EU Presidency in 2007, and today Brazil is a central partner for the EU and in the international scene.

Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias is currently Deputy Permanent Representative of Portugal to the EU, having previously been the first resident Portuguese Ambassador in Estonia (2005-2008). With a diplomatic career spanning 25-years, Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias was Vice President of the Instituto Camões in the Portuguese Embassy in Washington and in the Consulate in Curitiba, Brazil, and was also Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Latin Union (2003-2005) and Deputy Permanent Representative to UNESCO (2000-2005) in Paris.

Apart from Brasília, five other EU delegations are headed by Portuguese officials: U.S., Ukraine, Venezuela, Cameroon and Gabon (which also covers São Tomé e Príncipe), the latter named in 2010, under the European External Action Service framework.

(Published by mne.gov.pt - March 9, 2011)