BRUSSELS – The Western military alliance lost an ambassador from one of its key members this week, with Géza Andreas von Geyr stepping down to join Berlin’s brand new government.
Von Geyr has taken up the post of State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office this week, as announced in a post from the country’s mission to NATO on X Wednesday.
His appointment coincides with the swearing-in of the new German government led by Friedrich Merz, which officially took power yesterday following two rounds of voting in the Bundestag – a historic first for the lower chamber.
In the interim, the deputy ambassador will assume the position of ambassador, in line with standard diplomatic procedures, Euractiv has learned.
Von Geyr served as his country’s ambassador to NATO for two years and brings extensive experience in diplomacy and defence.
Before he moved to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels in the spring of 2023, he spent five years in Moscow, where he closely witnessed Germany cut trade ties with the Kremlin following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
His previous roles include vice president of the Federal Intelligence Service, director of security and defence policy at the foreign ministry, and head of a division within the chancellery’s foreign and security policy directorate-general under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
Von Geyr is not the only German ambassador joining the new coalition government. Michael Clauss, his counterpart as the German ambassador to the European Union, is doing the same.
(de)