22/01/2020 (Agence Europe) – Ambassador Willem van de Voorde, who is 55, took up his duties on Monday 20 January as Belgium’s new Permanent Representative to the EU. Until now he had been serving as Belgium’s ambassador to Germany. Mr van de Voorde previously worked, inter alia, as Director of the Directorate-General for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Ministers for Foreign and European Affairs, Steven Vanackere and Didier Reynders. He has also served as bilateral Ambassador to Austria, with accreditation to Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna. Mr van de Voorde joins Deputy Permanent Ambassador Jan Hoogmartens and Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) François Cornet d'Elzius. (CG)