Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for September 11, 2022
Newsline: Moroccans Protest Israeli Ambassador’s Sex Scandal
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested outside Morocco’s parliament against the kingdom’s normalisation of ties with Israel after the Jewish state recalled its top envoy from Rabat amid a probe, AFP correspondents said. Around 100 people chanted slogans against the rapprochement between Morocco and Israel, criticising its ambassador David Govrin and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita. “Today, we are in front of the parliament to protest against the hideous acts” allegedly committed by Govrin, said Amine Abdelhamid, a pro-Palestinian activist against normalisation between Morocco and Israel. “Morocco’s dignity is not for sale, the normalisation must end,” he said. (https://www.albawaba.com/news/moroccans-protest-sex-scandal-israeli-ambassador-rabat-1490585) Protesters burned an Israeli flag at the end of the demonstration. According to Israeli media, ambassador David Govrin is facing allegations of exploiting Moroccan women, sexual harassment and indecent exposure. Rabat cut relations with Israel in 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, but in 2020 Morocco followed the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in formalising ties with Israel.
Newsline: Norway to close embassies in Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Kosovo in 2023
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway says that it will make several changes to its missions abroad, and five overseas missions will be closed down, including the Embassy of Norway in Colombo. Accordingly, Embassies in Bratislava (Slovakia), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Pristina (Kosovo), the embassy office in Antananarivo (Madagascar) and the Consulate General in Houston (USA) will be closed down, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt stated. (https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/09/09/norway-to-close-embassy-in-sri-lanka-in-2023/) Accordingly, Norway’s diplomatic relations with Kosovo, Madagascar, Slovakia and Sri Lanka will be dealt with through alternative arrangements, and responsibility for this will be given to a Norwegian embassy close by, or an ambassador based in Norway will be appointed for the country concerned.
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