Emyr Jones Parry
| Emyr Jones Parry link C-SPAN (Physicist,diplomat) | |
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| Born | 21 September 1947 Wales,UK |
| Alma mater | University College Cardiff, St Catharine's College (Cambridge) |
UK diplomat who was UK Ambassador to NATO and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. | |
Sir Emyr Jones Parry is a retired UK diplomat who was UK Ambassador to NATO and Permanent Representative to the United Nations,[1][2] where he defended the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.[3]
Career
Prior to taking up his career in the diplomatic service, Parry was a physicist, gaining his Bachelor's degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Crystallography at University College Cardiff, where he read Theoretical Physics. He then moved on to Cambridge University (St Catharine’s College), where he worked in the Cavendish Laboratory and gained a PhD in Polymer Physics. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.[2]
Parry joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1973. During a career in HM Diplomatic Service spanning 34 years, he specialised in multilateral diplomacy and in European Union affairs.[2]
During his career, he was Ambassador to NATO, FCO Political Director, and the Director responsible for European Union policy. He was part of the Presidency team for five of the first six UK Presidencies of the European Community and then European Union. He is best known for his final diplomatic posting, that of Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, where he represented the UK in the Security Council for more than 4 years (2003 – 2007). He chaired the Security Council for four terms and negotiated more than 250 Security Council Resolutions.[2]
A Welsh speaker, he was also Chair of the Wales Millennium Centre 2010-2016, and Chair of REDRESS, an NGO that campaigns against torture, 2008-2016. He is the Honorary President of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs.[2]