EU appoints head of delegation to post-Brexit UK

The European Union (EU) has appointed veteran Portuguese diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida as head of its future diplomatic delegation to post-Brexit United Kingdom (UK), said Josep Borrell, the Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, in a statement on Friday.

Vale de Almeida will assume his post on Feb. 1, after which date the UK will be considered a third country by the EU, said the statement.

Vale de Almeida served as EU ambassador to the United Nations from 2015 to 2019, and previously as the EU's first ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2014.