Dominic Sebastian Schroeder (born 13 November 1965) is a British diplomat currently serving as Principal of the International Academy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
He was previously British Ambassador to Denmark and Ambassador and Head of the United Kingdom's Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna.
Career Schroeder joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1988. His first overseas posting was in 1989 as Third Secretary in Kinshasa, where he was promoted to Second Secretary. He returned to an FCO posting in 1992 and the next year went as Second Secretary to the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in New York City."Schroeder, Dominic Sebastian" in The Diplomatic Service List (2006), p. 295 Later postings were in Tehran, Berlin, and Bratislava. "Dominic Schroeder, CFSP European Correspondent Group" in The Civil Service Year Book Vol. 44 (2006), p. 164
In August 2003, while posted at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Schroeder was an active participant in an FCO campaign to remove Craig Murray as British ambassador in Uzbekistan, sending a minute to all members of staff in the embassy in Tashkent, "so they all knew exactly the hymn-sheet from which the office wished them to sing", as Murray later put it.Craig Murray, Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror (Random House, 2013), pp. 270, 272
In 2004, Schroeder was appointed as Head of the FCO's Common Foreign and Security Policy Group, and in July 2006 was called on to give evidence to the House of Lords European Union Committee."Mr Dominic Schroeder, Head of Common Foreign and Security Policy Group" in Europe in the World: Report with Evidence; 48th Report of Session 2005-06 (House of Lords: European Union Committee) (The Stationery Office, 22 November 2006), pp. 4–5
In 2006, he was posted to Berlin, as Counsellor (EU and Economic) and in 2009 was appointed as deputy Head of Mission there.
For the first half of 2011, Schroeder was chargé d'affaires, or temporary head of mission, in Slovakia, then was posted as Ambassador and Head of the United Kingdom's Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, based in Vienna."Appointment: Head of UK Delegation to the OSCE Vienna serving there until 2015" in The Times, 16 May 2011, accessed 11 March 2023 He was next British Ambassador to Denmark, from August 2016Stephen Gadd, "Our new man in Copenhagen – the new British ambassador speaks to CPH POST" The Copenhagen Post, 29 September 2016, accessed 11 March 2024 until July 2020."Schroeder, Dominic Sebastian (born 13 Nov. 1965), HM Diplomatic Service; Principal, International Academy, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, since 2021" in Who's Who 2023 online, accessed 11 March 2023
Interviewed in Copenhagen three months after the Brexit referendum, he said "...for me personally, the priority in my job is the maintenance and preservation of the security, welfare and livelihood of British nationals in Denmark". He made it clear that the United Kingdom would not invoke Article 50 before the end of 2016 and added "Never forget that the UK is leaving the EU, but we’re not leaving Europe. The importance of bi-lateral relationships... will just continue to grow."
In June 2017, Schroeder was involved in a dispute with the Danish Finance Minister Kristian Jensen at a conference on Brexit. Jensen said, quoting Paul-Henri Spaak,"Strategic autonomy for Europe - the aim of our generation" - speech by President Charles Michel to the Bruegel think tank, consilium.europa.eu, accessed 12 March 2023 "There are two kinds of European nations. There are small nations and there are countries that have not yet realized they are small nations". Schroeder responded that he saw no indications "of a diminished or diminishing power."
In 2021, Schroeder was appointed as Principal of the International Academy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
References
External links "Dominic Schroeder", British government career profile