Posted on 05/05/2021 10:39:14 PM PDT by Cronos
The UK government has agreed to give the European Union ambassador in London full diplomatic status.
The Foreign Office had resisted the idea, arguing the EU should not be treated like an independent nation.
But in a joint statement, the UK and EU announced ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida, would get "a status consistent with heads of missions of states".
He will now be immune from detention, prosecution or taxation during his time in London.
These are among the privileges given to diplomats in the states where they are stationed, as sanctioned by the Vienna Convention.
In more than 100 other countries, the EU's ambassadors have the same status as those representing sovereign nations.
Until now, however, the UK government had said it wanted instead to treat the EU's London delegation in London as representatives of an international organisation.
But the EU complained that this was inappropriate and could damage relations, while critics accused ministers of wanting to punish Brussels in the aftermath of protracted Brexit negotiations
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
At least we don’t need to chase the EU over unpaid parking fines in London anymore.
Serious mistake
The EU is now a nation. Its members are not.
Stavros Lambrinidis
Since March 2019, the Ambassador of the EU Delegation has been Stavros Lambrinidis.
The USA has an EU ambassador.
The EU is definitely not a nation (a group of people with common ethnic etc. background) - but a confederation that is a collection of nations.
It’s model should remain that of the Swiss confederation but looser.
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