Nye utrikeschefen inte rädd för bråk: ”Blir förändringar”

Josep Borrell Fontelles (born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish-Argentine politician. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain since 2018. Born and raised in the Catalan village of La Pobla de Segur, Borrell, aeronautical engineer and economist by training as well as professor of mathematics, entered politics in the 1970s as PSOE member during Spain's transition to democracy, and went on to serve in several prominent positions during the governments of Felipe González, first within the Ministry of Economy and Finance as General Secretary for the Budget and Public Spending (1982–1984) and Secretary of State for Finance (1984–1991), then joining the Council of Ministers as Minister of Public Works and Transport (1991–1996). In the opposition after the 1996 election, Borrell unexpectedly won the PSOE primary in 1998 and was the designated prime ministerial candidate of the party until resigning in 1999, then relocated to European politics, becoming MEP during the 2004–2009 legislative period and serving as President of the European Parliament for the first half of the term. He returned to the Spanish Council of Ministers in June 2018, when he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation in the Sánchez government. In July 2019, Borrell was revealed as the European Council's nominee to be appointed as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.