The Twenty-Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently appointed H.E. Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain as the next director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Ambassador Arias will take over for current Director-General Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü on July 25, 2018, for a tenure of four years. Üzümcü has held the role for eight years, the maximum allowed under the Convention.
“I wish you every success in your stewardship of this Organisation as it increasingly focuses on preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons,” Üzümcü said.
Ambassador Arias currently serves as the permanent representative of Spain to the OPCW and ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands. He was previously the permanent representative of Spain to the United Nations in New York and ambassador of Spain to Mali, Mauritania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria.
“I am fully committed to the success of this Organisation in overcoming the challenges ahead,” Ambassador Arias said in his acceptance speech. “With this conviction, I intend to have an active and, at the same time, discrete role in tackling any situation”.
The appointment of Ambassador Arias follows a consensus recommendation by the OPCW Executive Council in October.