Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Monday 14 July, the UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague announced that he was standing down. “Tonight I'm standing down as foreign secretary after four years to serve as leader of the House of Commons”, he stated on Twitter. Hague, aged 53, will thus become leader of the lower house of the British Parliament in order to lead the parliamentary campaign for the Conservative Party in May 2015. He will not stand for re-election. He will be replaced as foreign secretary by current Minister for Defence Philip Hammond, aged 59. Hammond is known as a euroscepticist - he has stated in the past, for example, that he would vote in favour of the UK leaving the EU if there were no reforms.
Several of Hague's counterparts have paid tribute to him. Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked Hague for “good cooperation and friendship”. Sweden's minister, Carl Bildt, stated that he was “truly” going to miss Hague as “a competent, experienced and credible voice” among the EU's foreign ministers. “This is a time when experience is needed”, he said. Sorry to see Hague go, Poland's minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that Hague's intellect, pragmatism and global vision would be missed at the EU's Foreign Affairs Council. Lithuania's minister, Linas Linkevicius, for his part highlighted Hague's wisdom and partnership, and - as did Latvia's minister, Edgars Rinkevics - he congratulated Hammond on his new appointment. The European External Action Service (EEAS) did not want to comment on this change. (CG)