New EU ambassador to Cambodia Carmen Moreno is approved

SPAIN’S Carmen Moreno has been approved as the new EU ambassador to Cambodia, replacing the outgoing George Edgar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation spokesperson Ket Sophann told The Post on Monday.

Moreno is scheduled to take office in early September.

“The government has approved the EU’s candidate for a new ambassador to Cambodia,” Sophann said.

The UK’s Edgar told The Post on Monday that he would leave Cambodia in late August and expected Moreno to arrive in early September.

“Carmen Moreno’s exact arriva l date is yet to be fixed, but I expect her to arrive in early to mid-September.

“I will leave Cambodia at the end of August and will be happy closer to that date to comment on my period as EU ambassador and the priorit ies for t he relationship between the EU and Cambodia,” Edgar said.

Moreno is current ly a senior of ficia l at t he AsiaEurope Meeting and t he Specia l Representative for Afghanistan-Pakistan at t he Spanish Ministr y of Foreign Af fa irs.

She was Spanish ambassador to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia in 2012.

The arriva l of the new ambassador comes as the EU continues with the procedure that could see Cambodia lose access to t he 28nation bloc’s Ever y t hing But Arms (EBA) agreement.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan told The Post on Monday that he believed Moreno would work, in the spirit of cooperation, to improve t he good relationship enjoyed by the EU and Cambodia.

Socia l analyst Meas Nee said Moreno’s appointment would not affect the EU’s position regarding EBA or its current relationship wit h Cambodia.

“I think hav ing a new ambassador will not af fect t he EU’s decision-making process regarding EBA.

“As we k now, 28 countries make up the EU and the procedure when decisions are made is complicated and takes time. So the new ambassador will not be able to change what has happened so fa r,” Nee said.

However, he said the new ambassador would continue as the EU’s “eyes and ears” in monitoring t he polit ica l situation in Cambodia.