Hans-Dieter LUCAS

Bio

Born in Jülich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Ambassador Hans-Dieter Lucas studied history, political science, law and Catholic theology in Bonn and Paris. In 1985, he joined the diplomatic and consular service, which led him first to the political directorate of the Foreign Office in Bonn and, in 1989, to the German Embassy in Moscow. At the same time, he completed his dissertation at the University of Bonn on European policy and vision in France under President de Gaulle. From 1995 to 1998, he was chief of staff to Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and later headed the speechwriting team of the new Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, before becoming spokesman for the German Embassy in Washington. Hans-Dieter Lucas then held various positions in the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Foreign Office, before representing Germany as Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the European Union in Brussels in 2010. From 2011 to 2015, he was Political Director at the Federal Foreign Office. From 2015 to 2020, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to NATO. Since September 1, 2020, he has been the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to France. In recognition of his work during the negotiations of the Vienna Agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue as well as his commitment to Franco-German relations, Hans-Dieter Lucas was named Knight of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic in 2016. In addition, he has held the rank of Officer in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany since 2015 and in 2020 he was awarded the Gold Cross of Honor of the Bundeswehr.