Spanish Agriculture Minister Planas enters race to lead UN food agency

Spanish Agriculture Minister Planas enters race to lead UN food agency Spain on Monday put forward Agriculture Minister Luis Planas as a candidate for the top job at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced the decision during his doorstep at the Foreign Council Affairs in Brussels. “It is a Spanish candidacy, but one that has a European vocation and also reflects Spain’s belief in multilateralism and the United Nations, at a time when food security is absolutely fundamental,” Albares said. Planas becomes a third European candidate for the post after EU agriculture ministers agreed at this month’s Brussels summit they should try to unite behind a single European contender. Italy has formally nominated former farm minister and current FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina , and Ireland backed Phil Hogan, the former EU griculture and trade commissioner . Currently leading the Rome-based U.N. agency is Qu Dongyu, a Chinese politician whose term will end in mid-2027. Formal candidacies to succeed him must be filed by the end of the year.