European heads of states appointed Baroness Catherine Ashton as the European Union's foreign-policy chief, the so-called first EU Foreign Minister, Thursday evening.
While many contend that her appointment is a surprise, in fact she is exactly who the EU leaders were looking for.
Ashton ticks the box for being a woman, and we know they were trying to raise the number of female senior officials. She's from the UK Labour Party, and it was already decided that the center-right parties should take the presidency job, while center-left would appoint the Foreign Minister.
Finally she's a British, and with the growing possibility of the Conservatives winning the elections next year in the UK, Brussels desperately needed to get a Labour politician in a top job to be sure Britain doesn't jump the EU ship.