Ambassador João Vale de Almeida
RUSI Europe Advisory Board Member
Biography
Ambassador João Vale de Almeida is a European diplomat of Portuguese nationality who served as EU Ambassador to the United States (2010–14), EU Ambassador to the United Nations (2015–19), and first EU Ambassador to the UK following Brexit (2020–22).
Previously, he served as Head of Cabinet (Chief of Staff) to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso (2004–09), acting also as the EU's Sherpa for G8 and G20 Summits, and as the President's Personal Representative for the negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty.
Ambassador Vale de Almeida studied History at the University of Lisbon and joined the European Commission in 1982 after a career as a journalist, having reached the highest grade in the EU hierarchy as Director General for External Relations.
Upon retirement, he joined the University of Cambridge as a Visiting Fellow and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs as Adjunct Professor.
He is the author of “The Divorce of Nations” (2025), a personal account of 21st-century diplomacy and the unravelling of the post-war international order. He is a member of foundation and corporate boards in Portugal and in the UK.