The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has named a new director for global and multilateral issues within the EU’s new diplomatic service launched on December 1, 2010.

 Maria Marinaki, a Greek career diplomat, is the last of seven directors to be appointed to the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) which operates as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the EU, implementing the EU's  Common Foreign and Security Policy and other areas of the EU's external representation.

 “Maria is an experienced diplomat who will make an important contribution to our work on a wide range of issues, including human rights and non-proliferation,” Ashton said in an annoucement on March 31st.

 Marinaki’s other mandates will include democratization, conflict-prevention and relations with the UN and regional organizations.

 Marinaki is the only woman at the managerial level in EEAS as well as the most senior Greek national in the diplomatic service. She is currently Greece’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Vienna.