Diplomatic Briefing
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Newsline: EU condemns bid to kidnap Bulgarian ambassador in Yemen
The European Union Sunday strongly condemned a bid to kidnap the Bulgarian ambassador in Yemem and called on the government there to ensure the protection of diplomats and other foreigners, AFP reported. The EU’s chief diplomat, Catherine Ashton, “condemns the attack in Sanaa on May 12 that injured the Bulgarian ambassador to Yemen, Boris Genadiev Borisov, and expresses the sincere solidarity of the European Union,” she said. “The High Representative calls on the Yemeni authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of foreign nationals and diplomats and do the utmost to investigate the incident,” she added, according to a statement issued by her office. In Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said masked gunmen stopped the ambassador’s car in central Sanaa and attempted to kidnap him and his wife.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n277901
Newsline: EU embassies in Washington open doors Saturday
A royal marriage that touched the hearts of romantics, a diamond jubilee that has captured the minds of nostalgics. It’s been a remarkable year for Great Britain, and with the Summer Olympics in London, the excitement is still going. For those looking to be part of the banner year — without the extra cost and mileage — the British Embassy, located along Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, will open its stately iron gates on Saturday for the European Union Open House, Embassy Row’s annual block party, which invites the public into the homes and offices of world dignitaries. This is the sixth year for the EU’s open house, and 27 member states are participating, including Croatia, to become an EU member in 2013. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the lines of people extending down Massachusetts Avenue will be a clear reminder that doors are open. “I think it is a success story,” said Joao Vale de Almeida, the European Union ambassador and head of the EU delegation to the U.S. “It has to do with the fact that people like to go inside the embassies. They have a sort of mystery about what goes on there, a curiosity.” One of the most popular stops during the day is the British Embassy, an achievement spokesman James Barbour credits to the bond between England and America but also to “the prominence of the residence and embassy. You can’t really miss us. It’s a bit of a D.C. landmark.” Located next to the U.S. Naval Observatory in Northwest, the ambassador’s residence is a combination of red bricks, white columns and multiple chimneys that appears to have been dropped into the District from an estate in the countryside. Behind the home is a lush garden filled with boldly colored roses. Each of the participating embassies has a unique presentation for guests. While the Embassy of Belgium plans to serve beer, visitors to the Embassy of Finland will have the opportunity to examine the building’s LEED-certified architecture. The Dutch Embassy serves as Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos’ private residence, and while visitors won’t likely see into the linen closet, they will have the opportunity to examine the collection of 16th- and 17th-century artwork by Dutch artists.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/10/eu-embassies-open-doors-visitors-saturday/
Newsline: Embassy in Brussels promoted event on avoiding Irish taxes
Details of an event advising Irish expats living in Belgium on how to transfer Irish pension schemes to other EU jurisdictions to avoid paying Irish taxes have been circulated through the official emailing list of Ireland’s Embassy in Belgium. The email, sent on April 19th by a local staff member at the embassy in Brussels, informed those on the mailing list of “an information event about the pension scheme in Ireland” due to be hosted by the Irish Club of Belgium at the Holiday Inn hotel in Brussels on May 15th. “If you have a pension in Ireland please see the second attachment for more details. Kind regards, Embassy of Ireland,” the email read. The information sheet from the deVere Group and STM Malta talked of the “significant advantages” of transferring Irish pension schemes to a “safe EU jurisdiction” such as Malta. It notes that the pensions levy announced in May 2011 and retrospectively enforced from January 1st, 2011, “could be as much as 10 per cent of your pension fund”. It advises readers they are entitled to transfer their pensions to an overseas scheme under the Occupational Pension Schemes and PRSA (overseas transfer payments) Regulations 2003. This scheme, it notes, will not be subject to the pensions levy. “If you live outside Ireland, transferring your pension to a STM Malta QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) will avoid ALL Irish taxes,” it said. In a statement, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the message was circulated by a member of the embassy’s local staff acting in good faith at the request of the Irish Club of Belgium. “It was inappropriate for the embassy to appear to promote the event in question and steps have been taken to ensure that a similar mistake does not happen again,” the spokesman said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0428/1224315297326.html
Newsline: Iran’s embassy in Istanbul confirms hosting on nuclear talks
Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Turkey officially confirmed its hosting of upcoming Iran – 5+1G nuclear negotiations, IRNA reported. According to IRNA, the Iranian diplomatic office in Turkish capital city announcing the news added, “These talks would be held on April 14th, 2012 between the concerned officials of our country and those of the group of six western countries in first round of a two-step negations in Istanbul, Turkey.” The spokesperson of EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton had earlier expressed hope that the first round of these talks would be held at an amicable atmosphere and lead to tangible results. Michael Mann added, “The EU is after reaching a continuous process in these talks.” Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Fereydoun Abbasi announced late Sunday that Iran will do 20-percent uranium enrichment just to meet its own needs. After a protracted flap over the venue for the talks, Iranian state TV reported Sunday that both sides had agreed on Istanbul. It said a second round would be held in Baghdad but that its timing would be decided during the meeting in Turkey.
http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2012397.html
Newsline: US, EU to upgrade diplomatic relations with Myanmar
The United States said last week it will ease restrictions on investment to Myanmar and quickly appoint an ambassador as it seeks to boost reformers who allowed landmark elections in the long-closed nation. In its latest gestures under a three-year diplomatic drive on Myanmar, the US said on April 24 it would step up aid and allow select officials to visit but stopped short of easing the bulk of its sanctions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the “leadership and courage” of President U Thein Sein after the opposition swept by-elections on April 1 and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won her first seat in parliament. Officials said they were deciding the exact measures and timeframe but that one priority would be to allow the use of credit cards in Myanmar, one of the few nations where MasterCard, Visa and American Express are never accepted. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top senator from the rival Republican Party, whose approval is critical to confirm an ambassador, gave his “support in principle” to the measures announced by Ms Clinton. President Barack Obama’s administration opened talks with Myanmar after taking office in 2009, concluding that years of Western efforts to isolate the then military leadership had failed. Three years later, Myanmar is arguably a top showcase for Obama’s foreign policy as he seeks re-election, with the Republicans sharply criticising his earlier outreach to other US foes such as Iran and Syria. Some analysts attribute Myanmar’s shift to an unease over reliance on China, which has an outsized economic and political influence in its strategically placed neighbour. The European Union has also been seeking to reward Myanmar and is leaning toward a “substantial” removal of sanctions, a senior EU diplomat said in Brussels.
http://www.mmtimes.com/2012/news/622/news62202.html
Newsline: Allegations of spying by Syrian diplomats in EU cause alarm
The Belgian foreign ministry is to investigate allegations that Syrian intelligence services are terrorising Syrian opposition expats in the EU capital. Foreign minister Didier Reynders told Belgian Liberal MEP Louis Michel on Friday (30 March) that he will personally look into claims that Syrian diplomats in Brussels have threatened people who take part in anti-regime rallies that their families in Syria will be harmed unless they stop. The allegations center around Wael Saker – a diplomatic “attache” at the Syrian embassy. Saker is said to be a senior officer in the Syrian “mukhabarat” (intelligence services) and that he operates a network of Syrian and Lebanese-origin “shabiha” (agents/militia) who infiltrate anti-regime groups to collect names, make threatening phonecalls and go to some anti-regime rallies to try to provoke violence. The Syrian embassy said in a written statement: “Those old accusations are unfounded. Some people are trying to market them in order to harm the national role of Syrian embassies … but we challenge anyone to come even with one proof.” On the shabiha allegation, it said: “Syrian expatriates in their vast majority have expressed their fabulous feelings and stands [sic] in solidarity with their country in these difficult circumstances.” It added there is “no institutional link with the embassy” and pro-regime NGOs in Belgium, such as the Association of Syrian Expatriates.
http://euobserver.com/22/115775
Newsline: Belarus tells EU envoys stay away amid new sanctions
Belarus told European Union ambassadors withdrawn by their capitals not to bother returning as the EU slapped new sanctions on Minsk to punish President Alexander Lukashenko for what they say are civil liberties abuses. Foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries imposed sanctions on a further 12 people, including businessmen and their companies, adding to existing measures that already ban some 200 people – police officers, judges and government officials – from the EU or accessing any assets there. Belarus’s message telling EU envoys to stay away, announced by the foreign ministry, increased its diplomatic isolation and marked a new low in ties with the West. The United States has not had an ambassador in Minsk since 2008 and runs an embassy on reduced staff. “In the current situation, the Belarussian side sees no need for the presence on its territory of the withdrawn ambassadors of the states that voted for this decision,” Belarussian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh told reporters in advance of sanctions announcement. The EU withdrew its envoys on Feb. 28 as relations with the ex-Soviet republic continued to slide following Lukashenko’s crackdown on the opposition after his re-election for a fourth term in December 2010.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/belarus-tells-eu-envoys-stay-away-amid-new-sanctions
Newsline: Embassy district empties in Damascus as diplomats exit war-torn Syria
EU foreign ministers will mull plans next week for the bloc’s 27 governments to pull all their ambassadors out of Syria. A Brussels meeting next Thursday and Friday will focus on possible closures of the EU embassies in Syria. An EU official said that Europe is considering a coordinated withdrawal of all diplomatic contacts with Damascus ahead of a new push at the United Nations for action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/middle-east-in-turmoil/embassy-district-empties-in-damascus-as-diplomats-exit-war-torn-syria/story-fn7ycml4-1226301692509
Newsline: EU and Ukraine trade blame over ambassador’s remarks
Ukraine has given a political thumping to the EU ambassador in Kiev in what is amounting to a bad week for relations with ex-Soviet neighbours. Its foreign ministry summoned him to give explanations after he criticised President Viktor Yanukovych at a business conference. It also published a statement saying he does not know how to do his job. “The public statements of the EU ambassador to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira … do not correspond to the traditions of international relations in diplomacy,” it said. “The issue is not just the tone of ambassador Teixeira’s remarks, but the fact that a person sent to Ukraine as a diplomat … is trying to get involved in the political process.” For its part, the EU’s External Action Service said on Wednesday: “The comment from the foreign ministry is an unfounded attack on the personal integrity and professionalism of the ambassador and we categorically reject it. Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira has the full confidence of the EU.” Texeira’s crime was to tell businessmen that Yanukovych broke election promises on improving the investment climate – a sore point amid widespread reports of high-level corruption. The Portuguese-origin diplomat frequently annoys the administration with outspoken criticism. The latest war-of-words comes the same week as Belarus expelled two EU ambassadors, prompting all 27 EU envoys to quit the country in protest.
http://euobserver.com/24/115435
Newsline: Europe united in diplomatic move to isolate Belarus
Europe has been united by a diplomatic row. The bloc has agreed to recall member states’ ambassadors from Minsk in a move which will be seen to further isolate Belarus. The EU has reacted in solidarity in a tit-for-tat manner after Belarus had called on the head of the bloc’s delegation to the country and the ambassador of Poland to return to their capitals for consultations. That action was prompted by new sanctions adopted by the EU to punish Minsk’s human rights record. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle fired a broadside at President Alexander Lukashenko. “This is the last dictatorship, this is the last dictator in Europe, and we will not let ourselves be intimidated by such actions against one European institutions or against one member state. We will not let others divide us. The dictator fools himself when he thinks he can divide us,” he said.
http://www.euronews.net/2012/02/28/europe-united-in-diplomatic-row/
