An Italian Doctor in the diplomatic service for crisis response?

(exclusive) Cathy Ashton met him in Haiti during earthquake relief operations. And she enjoyed his work, to the point of asking him to come work with her. Agostino Miozzo, could thus be appointed in the coming days, for " coordinate the crisis response to the EU diplomatic service », a newly created and emblematic position. It will thus be the first Italian appointed to a main post in the service (1).

An expert in disaster relief management

Director of the Office of International Relations and Italian Civil Protection Volunteers (Direction VI) since 2002, Agostino Miozzo has been on all "fronts". He thus coordinated relief after the Tsunami in 2004, in South Sudan, in Iran (after the Bam earthquake), in Indonesia, in Morocco, in Algeria (earthquake again in 2003), in Ossetia (after the tragedy of Beslan), in the United States (after the Katrina tornado in New Orleans)... But this is not the only experience.

An "Italian doctor" *

Born September 30, 1953, in Camposampiero, "theitalian doctor" has spent most of his career on behalf of Farnesina, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, traveling the world. Graduated in medicine from the University of Milan (in 1980), as a volunteer doctor in Zimbabwe from 1982 to 1984, then coordinator of the emergency program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia, in 1984 - 1985 (it was the time of the great famine and the "Band aid" launched by Bob Geldof). the international activities of the Higher Institute of Health, and the "Bambino Gesù" hospital in Rome (from 1985 to 1999), and responsible for the health and social cooperation program for sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean at the Ministry (1985-1991).

In 1991, he took the lead, for ten years, until 2001, of the coordination of emergency relief operations at the Italian Development Cooperation DG. He thus manages the conflict situations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, in Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Rwanda... The carnages are not lacking in this decade. He also intervened after Hurricane Mitch in Central America, and for other disasters (earthquake in Algeria in 1999), North Korea, Russia, Brazil... During an interlude (1995-1996), he took a position at the Italian Red Cross as head of the crisis unit.

A new emblematic position

This position of "crisis response coordinator" within External Relations is entirely new. It remains to be defined. It is not a question, in fact, of coordinating the various crisis management structures of European defense (civilian or military staff, CMPD, etc.). Nor is it a question of redoing the work done by the two units (future Civil Protection Directorate) of the European Commission, under the direction of Commissioner Georgieva. It is a question of being at the junction of the diplomatic, the military and the civilian so that the EU is more effective. The coordination function will be particularly active when it comes to acting outside the EU with means other stricto sensu than those of civil protection. Its role should be multiple: to advise the High Representative, and to provide her with her expertise, in terms of civil protection and disaster relief in the world, as well as her (many) contacts at European and international level in the field of disaster relief . But not only. Due to his functions, Miozzo was able to forge some good relations with officials of so-called "difficult" countries (Iran, Libya, Palestine...). Which could be valuable. The action of "disaster relief" is also, and often, a means of diplomatic action... pure (2).

This appointment - if confirmed - would be quite logical. From a political point of view, it would be a clear message of Cathy Ashton's intention to make the European coordination of disaster relief a priority file. Italy has always been (along with France) one of the countries that has brought this issue the most to the European level. It has an effective civil protection force which has deployed very quickly on the ground on numerous occasions. And the appointment of one of its nationals to this position is a guarantee of ambition for the future.

(1) Read: Will the new director of the European Defense Agency be “One”?…

(2) Read: Civil security, the missing piece in the EU – Civil power

(*) Italian doctor refers to the generation of French doctors, of Bernard Kouchner and consorts, who led to the creation of doctors without borders, doctors of the world and other "interventionist" emergency relief organizations.