34 Facts About Josep Borrell

Josep Borrell Fontelles is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024.

Josep Borrell entered politics in the 1970s as a member of the PSOE during Spain's transition to democracy, and went on to serve in several positions during the governments of Felipe Gonzalez, first within the Ministry of Economy and Finance as General Secretary for the Budget and Public Spending and Secretary of State for Finance, then joining the Council of Ministers as Minister of Public Works and Transport.

Josep Borrell returned to the Council of Ministers in June 2018, when he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation in the Sanchez government.

In July 2019, Josep Borrell was announced as the European Council's nominee to be appointed High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Josep Borrell Fontelles was born on 24 April 1947 in the Catalan village of La Pobla de Segur, province of Lleida, near the Pyrenees, son of Joan Borrell and Luisa Fontelles Doll.

In May 1976 Josep Borrell defended his PhD thesis in economics at the UCM.

Josep Borrell joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in 1975 and started his political activity during Spain's transition to democracy in the Socialist Grouping of Madrid along with Luis Solana and Luis Carlos Croissier.

Josep Borrell ran for office as the number 5 in the PSOE list for the 1979 municipal election in Majadahonda, becoming city councillor.

Josep Borrell left the office after the arrival to power of the People's Party in 1996, remaining as an MP for Barcelona in the Spanish Congress.

In 1998 Josep Borrell decided to run against the PSOE's then party leader Joaquin Almunia in the first national primary election ever held in the PSOE since the Second Republic, intended to determine who the party would nominate as its prime ministerial candidate vis-a-vis the 2000 general election.

However, in May 1999, a fraud investigation was launched into two officials whom, several years earlier, Josep Borrell had appointed to senior posts in the finance ministry.

Amid the sixth term of the Cortes Generales, Josep Borrell was elected to chair the Joint Congress-Senate Committee for the European Union in October 1999, replacing Pedro Solbes.

In July 2004 Josep Borrell was elected President of the European Parliament, as a result of an agreement between the EPP and the Socialists, becoming the third Spaniard to hold this position after Enrique Baron and Jose Maria Gil-Robles.

Josep Borrell was the first newly elected MEP to hold the post since direct elections were held in 1979.

Josep Borrell was nominated president of the European University Institute on 12 December 2008, and assumed this position in January 2010.

Josep Borrell co-authored Las cuentas y los cuentos de la independencia, a 2015 essay that vowed to dismantle the economic arguments laid out by the pro-independence movement.

Josep Borrell took a leading role in a mass rally defending the unity of Spain held in Barcelona on 8 October 2017, in which Borrell gave an impassionated speech demanding "not to bring up more frontiers" while displaying a European Union flag that he called "our estelada", bringing him back to the media first line.

Josep Borrell took part on a second mass rally on 29 October 2017 under the slogan "We are all Catalonia".

In June 2018, Josep Borrell accompanied King Felipe VI on an official visit to the US.

In October 2019, Josep Borrell condemned the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria against Syrian Kurds, adding that "We don't have magic powers" to stop the Turkish invasion.

Josep Borrell stepped down from the office on 29 November 2019 and was succeeded ad interim by the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles.

Josep Borrell passed the hearing before the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs on 7 October 2019.

In October 2020, Josep Borrell called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and return to the negotiating table.

In February 2021, Josep Borrell voiced "strong concern" about China's "treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular" ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

In May 2021, Josep Borrell called for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

In June 2021, the Spanish newspaper ABC published a mail that described that Josep Borrell had informed the Cuban embassy about the debate in the European Parliament about the situation in Cuba and that showed his intention to stop the debate and prevent it from reaching the Parliament's floor.

On 8 October 2021, Josep Borrell said the EU's relations with Turkey has significantly improved and he called his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "excellent".

On 22 February 2022, after Russia recognised the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic and subsequently sent troops into the two regions, Josep Borrell issued a statement condemning the actions and called upon Russia to return to the tenets of the Normandy Format.

On 21 September 2023, Josep Borrell released a statement which condemned the military operation by Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and deplored the casualties and loss of life caused by the offensive.

On 10 October 2023, Josep Borrell accused Israel of breaking international law by imposing a blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Previously in March 2024, Josep Borrell had stalled efforts by nine EU foreign ministers to sanction Iran over its missile and drone program, because he felt that new sanctions might hamper efforts to bind Iran to a nuclear non-proliferation deal.

On 15 May 2024, Josep Borrell called on Israel to immediately halt its assault on Rafah, stating it was disrupting humanitarian aid and causing a humanitarian crisis, while calling on Hamas to release all Israeli hostages.

Since 1998, Josep Borrell has been in a relationship with Cristina Narbona, a Spanish PSOE politician and former Minister of Environment in the Zapatero administration.

In November 2018, the national stock market regulator in Spain concluded that Josep Borrell traded shares of the company Abengoa while in possession of insider information.