UN chief appoints new under-secretary-general for safety and security

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday announced the appointment of Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of the Netherlands as his new under-secretary-general for safety and security, to succeed Gilles Michaud of Canada.

Hennis-Plasschaert brings to the position more than 30 years of experience in diplomacy, mediation and international security, according to a statement issued by the United Nations.

Hennis-Plasschaert has served since 2024 as the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, working with national, regional and international actors to advance stability in the face of compounding domestic and regional crises, as well as special representative of the secretary-general for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (2018-2024).

She served as a member of the European Parliament (2004-2010) and later the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2010-2012), and was appointed defense minister of the Netherlands in 2012.

Michaud was held at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday upon arrival for about 45 minutes and questioned over a previous visit to Gaza before being released, news reports said.

Michaud received an apology from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his reception at Israel's airport, a UN spokesperson said Wednesday.

"USG Michaud received an apology from the (Israeli) Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his reception at the airport; they attributed the matter to human error," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said in an email in response to a request for comments by Xinhua. Enditem