Mihnea Motoc

Mihnea Ioan Motoc (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈmihne̯a iˈo̯an moˈtok]) is a Romanian diplomat who served as Minister of Defence of Romania between November 2015 and January 2017, in the Cioloș Cabinet. Before this appointment, he was the country's ambassador to the European Union between 2008 and 2015, and briefly the country's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He is currently the Principal Adviser in the European Commission's Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action (IDEA) department.

H.E. Ambassador Mihnea Motoc
Mihnea Motoc (March 2011)
Minister of National Defence
In office 17 November 2015 – 3 January 2017
President	Klaus Iohannis
Prime Minister	Dacian Cioloș
Preceded by	Mircea Dușa
Romanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office 11 September 2015 – 17 November 2015
President	Klaus Iohannis
Prime Minister	Victor Ponta
Preceded by	Ion Jinga
Succeeded by	Dan Mihalache
Permanent Representative of Romania to the European Union
In office April 5, 2008 – 2 August 2015
President	Traian Băsescu
Prime Minister	Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Emil Boc Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu Victor Ponta
Preceded by	Lazar Comanescu
Succeeded by	Luminita Teodora Odobescu
Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations
In office 2003 – April 1, 2008
President	Ion Iliescu
Succeeded by	Simona Miculescu
State Secretary of Integrity
In office 2001–2003
President	Ion Iliescu
Ambassador of Romania in the Netherlands
In office 1999–2001
President	Ion Iliescu
Personal details
Born	(1966-11-11) November 11, 1966 Bucharest, Romania
Spouse	Iulia Motoc
Children	Luca-Mihnea Motoc

Work history

Motoc has been a Romanian diplomat since the early 1990s, when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania. For most of the 1990s Motoc spent time in various Romanian government posts. He joined the United Nations in 2003, where he spent five years working as the Permanent Representative of Romania. In 2008, he left his post at the UN to become the Permanent Representative of Romania to the European Union. He held this position until becoming Ambassador of Romania to London for a few months in 2015. In November 2015, he was appointed Minister of Defence in the Cioloș Cabinet and held the position until January 2017.

Education

Motoc studied law at the University of Bucharest from 1984 until 1989. Following this he went on to achieve a Certificate of post-graduate studies in Private International Law from the University of Nice in 1991 and a Master's Degree in Public International and Comparative Law from George Washington University a year later.

Honors

• Commander, National Order for Merit (Romania)
• President of National Security Authority
• Head of the Romanian Negotiations Team with the NATO
• Conducted negotiations within UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, EU and Neighboring Treaties negotiations
• Member of the Permanent Inter-ministerial Committee for European Integration
• Monitor for” acquis communautaire” on Common Foreign Security Policy
• President of the Inter-Departmental Commission for Romania's accession to NATO
• National Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe
• Member of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission
• Vice-chairman for the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Personal life

Mihnea Motoc was born on 11 November 1966 in Bucharest. He is fluent in English and French. He is married to Iulia Motoc, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights with whom he has one son, Luca-Mihnea.

References

• Interview in Deutsche Welle