High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy facts for kids

The High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy is a position created by the Treaty of Lisbon, starting December 1, 2009. The position is part of the European Commission. The first person to be appointed is Cathy Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland. Today it's Federica Mogherini.

Her duty is to be the face of European Union to the rest of the world, along with the President of Europe

The job is sometimes known casually a "the European Foreign Minister" but this is not correct because she is not a member of any government.

Images for kids

Javier Solana with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003
Javier Solana with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in 2008
Ashton with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009
Catherine Ashton (far right) with the rest of the Quartet on the Middle East (2010)
Mogherini with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, 16 April 2016
Mogherini with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in July 2016.
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo meets with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell, at the Department of State in Washington D.C., on February 7, 2020.