Federica Mogherini

Federica Mogherini (born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019.

Federica Mogherini was born on 16 June 1973 in Rome, Italy, to the family of the film director and set designer Flavio Mogherini (1922–1994).

Mogherini attended the Sapienza University of Rome where she studied political science graduating with a specialization in political philosophy with a final dissertation on Islam and politics, which she wrote while she was on the Erasmus programme at Sciences Po Aix in Aix-en-Provence, France.

From 1988 Mogherini was a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation.

In 1996, she joined the Youth Left after the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party and its transformation into a Social Democratic Party.

In 2001, she became a member of the National Council of the Democrats of the Left (DS), later serving on its National Executive Board and Political Committee.

In 2003, she started working at the DS's Foreign Affairs Section, where she was given responsibility for relations with international movements and parties, later becoming the team's coordinator; after that she was given responsibility for Foreign Affairs and International Relations on the staff of DS Party chairman Piero Fassino.

In this role she oversaw the policies on Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Middle East peace process.

Mogherini was in charge of maintaining relations with the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International and other left-wing parties.

After the formation of the Italian Democratic Party (PD) in 2007, Mogherini was appointed to its executive committee by its founding chairman Walter Veltroni.

Mogherini was a Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States in 2007.

Mogherini joined the Renzi Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the third woman after Susanna Agnelli and Emma Bonino to hold this post.

Her first public engagement following her appointment was to meet, along with Italy's Defence Minister, the wives of Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the two Italian marines detained in India after the Enrica Lexie incident.

Under her direction, the Foreign Ministry worked for the release of Mariam Ibrahim.

Italy's good relations with Sudan helped in securing the release of this Sudanese woman who was finally permitted to fly to Italy on an Italian government plane.

She was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2008 to 2014.

In 2008, Mogherini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the constituency of Veneto.

On 24 February 2009, she was appointed to the staff of the incoming chairman of the PD Dario Franceschini, with responsibility for equal opportunity.

After that she was notable as a member of Franceschini's faction (Area Democratica).

She has also served as Vice-President of the Italy-USA Foundation.

In February 2013, Mogherini was returned to parliament for the Emilia-Romagna constituency.

During the 17th Italian legislature she served again on the Defence Committee (replacing Lapo Pistelli after he was appointed Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs), on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, and later its president from April 2013.

On 1 August 2013, she was elected as head of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly for NATO.

On 9 December 2013, Matteo Renzi, the new chairman of the PD, appointed Mogherini to his staff, with the responsibility of European relations.

Around this time Mogherini voiced her support for the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.

She previously served as Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from February 2014 to October 2014, in the centre-left Renzi Cabinet.

In July 2014, Mogherini expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

She stated: "The repeated rocket strikes on Israel warrant the firmest possible condemnation; all attacks on civilian areas must stop immediately."

In July 2014, given the large number of Italian MEPs belonging to the S&D group following the 2014 European election, the European Council considered her as a candidate for the position of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Jean-Claude Juncker's new Commission.

On 13 July 2014, the Financial Times among other European newspapers reported that her nomination proposal had been opposed by the Baltic states and several Central-European countries, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, where her stance towards Russia concerning the Ukrainian crisis was considered to be too soft.

Sweden, Ireland, Netherlands and the United Kingdom raised concerns also, claiming the position should be filled by someone from the center-right and by a candidate from outside Germany, France and Italy.

Nonetheless, on 1 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, as Italy's official candidate for EU Commissioner.

On 30 August, Europe's socialist Prime Ministers met prior to the convening of the European Council, at which she received the approval of the Party of European Socialists.

On the same day the President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council had decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014.

The group of commissioners involved in external relations — neighborhood and EU enlargement, trade, development, emergency and humanitarian aid, migration, energy and transport — meets monthly, with Mogherini in the chair.

At her first press conference she declared her efforts will be devoted to establishing discussions between Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis between the two countries.

In 2015, Mogherini won praise for her role in negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran, and along with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was the one to announce the accord to the world.

Serving in the 16th legislature, she became secretary of its Defence Committee, a member of the Italian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe, and of Italy's parliamentary delegation to the Western European Union.

In 2020 she was appointed rector of the College of Europe, a post-graduate university for European studies in Bruges (Belgium) and Natolin (Poland).

She is a member of the Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists, a political faction made up of centre-left national political parties in the EU, the UK and Norway.