11/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Sellal back in Brussels. The secretary-general of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Sellal, is to be appointed France's permanent representative to the European Union so as to participate in the EU's “re-alignment”, the news agency Reuters learned on Wednesday 11 June. Sellal - who is 62 and replaced at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Christian Masset, the current ambassador in Tokyo - has already occupied this post in Brussels during the French Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2008. “He's our European specialist at a time when we are re-directing our European strategy”, said a diplomat. Sellal will replace Philippe Etienne, who will become the ambassador in Berlin at an important time for French-German relations. (LC)