Stefano Sannino

Stefano Sannino (born 24 December 1959 in Portici) is an Italian diplomat and European civil servant.

Career After studying political science at the University of Naples, Sannino entered the Italian diplomatic service in 1986. He served as deputy chief of mission at the Italian embassy in Belgrade (1994–96), before being seconded to the Italian government as head of office of the secretary of state for foreign affairs in the first Prodi government (1996–98). In 1998–2001, Sannino was chief of staff to Italy's trade ministers Piero Fassino, and then Enrico Letta.

Sannino began his career at the European Commission in 2002 as an adviser for external relations and trade in the cabinet of the then President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, together with Sandro Gozi. Sannino was instead appointed as Italian ambassador to Spain. (Calenda will leave the post merely two months later, appointed by Renzi as new Minister for Economic Development )

In February 2020, the new EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, appointed Sannino as Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Global Affairs of the European External Action Service. In December 2020, he was appointed new Secretary General of the European External Action Service, to replace Helga Schmid, starting from 2021. He was replaced by Belén Martínez Carbonell in January 2025.

As of 1 February 2025 he leads Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf within the European Commission.

In December 2025, Sannino was detained by Belgian police during a raid on the EU's foreign service and the College of Europe. According to the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), the operation is part of an ongoing investigation focused on "suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats."

Other activities European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member

Personal life Sannino was married to the daughter of a former Italian diplomat. She died after Sannino's posting as the Head of OSCE's Mission in Serbia in 2002. Sannino is married with Catalan Santiago Mondragón Vial. He received the Transexualia 2016 prize, for his support to the social inclusion of trans persons in Spain, and the LGBT Andalucía prize (together with the former US Ambassador to Spain, James Costos) for his efforts in the fight against homophobia. In 2018, he raised the rainbow flag on the Italian Embassy in the occasion of the Madrid Pride.

Honors