Ambassador Francisco Seixas da Costa was born in 1948 in Vila Real. He has a degree in Social and Political Sciences from Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon. A diplomat for nearly four decades, he was ambassador to the UN, OSCE, UNESCO, Brazil and France. He was State Secretary for European Affairs (1995/2001). After requesting retirement from public service, he was Executive Director of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe (2013/14).
He is a researcher at the OBSERVARE-Observatory of External Relations of the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (UAL), where he was lecturer between 2015 and 2019, directed courses in preparation for the competition for access to a diplomatic career and integrated training activities in partnership with the Military University Institute. He was also a guest lecturer at the European University (2016/18).
He was President of the General Council of UTAD, member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics at Coimbra University, and member of the Council of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of Nova University of Lisbon. He was also a member of the committee that prepared the Strategic Concept for National Defence, and a consultant to the Center for European Policy Studies and the Bertelsmann Foundation.
Ambassador Francisco Seixas da Costa is co-author of several collective works and has published books on international issues. He has published articles in several Portuguese and foreign publications, and he is currently a columnist for newspapers. He is a strategic consultant and business manager. Ambassador Seixas da Costa chairs the International Advisory Board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; President of the Lisbon Club and the Lisbon Conferences; member of the Strategic Reflection Group on Security; member of the Council of Honorific Orders of the Presidency of the Republic.
