# Fernando Arias

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{{short description|Spanish diplomat|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Expand Spanish|topic=bio|date=April 2026}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                      = Fernando Arias
| image                     = H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General (42516889694) (cropped).jpg
| office                    = Director-General of the [Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons](/source/Organisation_for_the_Prohibition_of_Chemical_Weapons)
| term_start                = 25 July 2018
| term_end                  =
| predecessor               = [Ahmet Üzümcü](/source/Ahmet_%C3%9Cz%C3%BCmc%C3%BC)
| successor                 = 
| alt                       = 
| caption                   = Official portrait, 2018
| birth_name                = Fernando Arias González
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| occupation                = Diplomat
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'''Fernando Arias González''' (February 27, 1952, Madrid)  is a [Spanish](/source/Spanish_people) diplomat, who is the Director-General of the [Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons](/source/Organisation_for_the_Prohibition_of_Chemical_Weapons) (OPCW) and has previously served as an ambassador of Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2018/07/ambassador-fernando-arias-assumes-office-opcw-director-general|title = Ambassador Fernando Arias Assumes Office as OPCW Director-General}}</ref>

== Background ==

The appointment of Arias followed a consensus recommendation by the OPCW Executive Council in October 2017. Arias was re-appointed for a second four year term on 30 November 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2021/11/fernando-arias-re-appointed-opcw-director-general|title=Fernando Arias re-appointed as OPCW Director-General}}</ref>

Arias is a career diplomat with extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy. He previously served as Ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands and as Spain's  Permanent Representative to the OPCW. He also has served as [Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations](/source/Permanent_Representative_of_Spain_to_the_United_Nations) in New York and Ambassador of Spain to Mali, Mauritania, former [Macedonia](/source/List_of_ambassadors_of_Spain_to_North_Macedonia), and Bulgaria.

== Decorations ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Spanish Decorations
!Decoration
!Date Awarded
|-
|Commander (Highest Grade), [Order of Charles III](/source/Order_of_Charles_III)
|2004
|-
|Commander, (Highest Grade) [Order of Isabella the Catholic](/source/Order_of_Isabella_the_Catholic)
|12 March 2012
|-
|Commander, Order of Isabella the Catholic
|6 December 1995
|-
|Official, Order of Isabella the Catholic
|24 June 1987
|-
|Commander, [Order of Civil Merit](/source/Order_of_Civil_Merit)
|23 June 1990
|-
|Official, Order of Civil Merit
|23 June 1984
|-
|[Cross of the Spanish Police](/source/Order_of_Police_Merit) with White Distinctive
|2006
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Foreign Decorations
!Decoration
!Country
|-
|Grand Cross, [Order of Orange-Nassau](/source/Order_of_Orange-Nassau)
|Netherlands
|-
|Commander, Order of Orange Nassau
|Netherlands
|-
|Official, Order of Orange Nassau
|Netherlands
|-
|Commander, [National Order of Merit](/source/National_Order_of_Merit_(Mauritania))
|Mauritania
|-
|Grand Cross, [Order of May](/source/Order_of_May)
|Argentina
|-
|Grand Cross, [Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg](/source/Grand-Duchy_of_Luxembourg)
|Luxembourg
|-
|Grand Cross, [Order of Bernardo O'Higgins](/source/Order_of_Bernardo_O'Higgins)
|Chile
|-
|Grand Cross, Order of Honorato Vásquez
|Ecuador
|-
|Grand Cross, [Order of the Phoenix](/source/Order_of_the_Phoenix_(Greece))
|Greece
|-
|Grand Officer, [Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany](/source/Order_of_Merit_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germany)
|Germany
|-
|Grand Cross, Stara Planina
|Bulgaria
|-
|Grand Cross, Rio Branco
|Brazil
|-
|Commander, [Order of St. Gregory the Great](/source/Order_of_St._Gregory_the_Great)
|Vatican City
|-
|Knight, [National Order of the Legion of Honour](/source/National_Order_of_the_Legion_of_Honour)
|France
|}

==References==
<references />

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Fernando}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Living people
Category:Spanish diplomats
Category:Ambassadors of Spain to the Netherlands
Category:Ambassadors to Mali
Category:Ambassadors to Mauritania
Category:Ambassadors of Spain to North Macedonia
Category:Ambassadors of Spain to Bulgaria
Category:Permanent representatives to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Category:Permanent representatives of Spain to the United Nations

{{Europe-diplomat-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fernando Arias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Arias) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Arias?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.