Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for October 3, 2022
Newsline: Lithuania Declares Top Russian Diplomat Persona Non Grata
Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday declared Russia’s charge d’affaires persona non grata. “(His) recent actions and statements are incompatible with a diplomat’s status, and should be seen as interference in the host nation’s domestic affairs,” the ministry said in a statement. (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-10-03/lithuania-declares-top-russian-diplomat-persona-non-grata) The ministry did not detail alleged offences of the Russian charge d’affaires, who was told to leave the country within five days. The Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA news agency that it would “give an appropriate response”. Lithuania expelled Russia’s ambassador in April and recalled its own, lowering its diplomatic ties to the level of charge d’affaires.
Newsline: Armenia, Azerbaijan top diplomats negotiate in Geneva
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan have held talks in Geneva on a future peace treaty, according to officials in Baku and Yerevan, following recent deadly clashes between the arch-foes. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov met on Sunday in Geneva to begin “drafting the text of the peace treaty”, the foreign ministry in Baku said on Monday. It said the talks followed up the EU-mediated meeting on August 31 in Brussels between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Azerbaijan called for “full withdrawal of the Armenian armed units from the territories of Azerbaijan, the opening of transport and communication lines”, the ministry said in a statement. Armenia’s foreign ministry said, “The parties exchanged ideas on the peace treaty, ensuring the rights and security guarantees of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.” It reaffirmed its demands of Azerbaijani troops’ “withdrawal from the sovereign territory of Armenia”, release of POWs and “the introduction of international mechanisms for controlling the situation on the border”. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/3/armenia-azerbaijan-top-diplomats-hold-peace-talks-in-geneva) Baku and Yerevan fought two wars – in 2020 and in the 1990s – over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan. Last month, at least 286 people were killed on both sides before a United States-brokered truce ended the worst clashes since the Caucasus neighbours’ 2020 war.
Newsline: EU pledges strong response to Nicaragua’s expulsion of ambassador
The European Union criticised Nicaragua’s decision to expel its ambassador and break relations with the Netherlands, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday. “The EU profoundly regrets and rejects this unjustified and unilateral decision,” Borrell said of the expulsion, also expressing “unwavering support” for the Netherlands. “These hostile, unwarranted actions” would not only effect relations between Nicaragua and EU but would lead to Managua’s further international isolation, said Borrell. The bloc will respond in a “firm and proportional manner”, he added. (https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/eu-to-respond-in-firm-way-to-nicaraguas-expulsion-of-ambassador/article) The European Union’s envoy, Bettina Muscheidt, left Nicaragua Saturday a day after the authorities there declared her persona non grata. Managua cut ties with the Dutch government on Friday evening, describing The Hague as “interventionist” and “neocolonialist” after its ambassador, Christine Pirenne, said her country would not fund the construction of a hospital.
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