Obama announces plans to fill key foreign policy posts

WASHINGTON (AFP)

US President Barack Obama has announced plans to fill senior foreign policy positions dealing with international organizations as well as European and Eurasian affairs.

The White House said Obama planned to name Phil Gordon as assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs and Esther Brimmer as assistant secretary for international organizations.

Obama also intended to appoint Melanne Verveer, an aide in former president Bill Clinton’s administration, as ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, a new post, according to a White House statement.

All three posts have to be approved by the Senate.

Gordon would replace Dan Fried, who oversaw the Bush administration’s negotiations to deploy a US missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland — opposed by Russia — as well as arms control talks with Moscow.

Brimmer is to replace Kristen Silverberg, whom The Washington Post said was appointed to help the United States prevail in the campaign against terrorism partly by improving the US image overseas.

Verveer is co-founder, chair and co chief executive officer of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international nonprofit that invests in emerging women leaders, the White House statement said.

Verveer formerly worked as assistant to president Clinton, who served from 1993 to 2001, and as chief of staff to the first lady, Hillary Clinton.