Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for November, 2022
Newsline: Blast at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid Injured One Employee
Spanish police said an employee at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was injured on Wednesday in an explosion that occurred while he was handling a letter. The staff member suffered light injuries went to hospital under his own steam, police added. (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-11-30/spanish-police-say-blast-at-ukrainian-embassy-injured-one-employee) Ukraine’s embassy in Madrid was not immediately reachable.
Newsline: Israeli ambassador to India apologises after filmmaker’s remarks spark uproar
An Israeli filmmaker’s criticism of a film depicting the exodus of India’s majority Hindu population from the disputed region of Kashmir has sparked an uproar in India and prompted an apology from the Israeli ambassador. Nadav Lapid, an Israeli filmmaker who headed the jury at a government-organised film festival in the Indian state of Goa, said during closing ceremony that “The Kashmir Files” was a “propaganda movie” that had no place at a film festival, drawing a wave of criticism and outrage on social media. The film, a runaway hit in India when released in March this year, tells the fictional story of a student who discovers his Kashmiri Hindu parents were killed by Islamist militants – and not in an accident as his grandfather had told him. Lapid’s name was trending on Twitter for most of Tuesday and several users accused him of dismissing the portrayal of the exodus of Hindus from Muslim-majority Kashmir. Naor Gilon, Israel’s ambassador to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, apologised on Twitter. “As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologise to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship,” he said. “I’m no film expert but I do know that it’s insensitive and presumptuous to speak about historic events before deeply studying them and which are an open wound in India because many of the involved are still around and still paying a price,” Gilon said in a thread addressed to Lapid. (https://www.fxempire.com/news/article/israeli-ambassador-to-india-apologises-after-filmmakers-remarks-spark-uproar-1213797) Reuters was not able to reach Lapid for a comment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised the film, which focuses on the violent upheaval of 1989-90 in Kashmir. Supporters of Modi and the BJP have endorsed the movie while videos published online show people in movie audiences cheering, shouting slogans and waving Indian flags during screenings.
Newsline: UK summons Chinese ambassador over BBC journalist arrest
China’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office after a BBC journalist was allegedly kicked and beaten by Chinese police while covering anti-lockdown protests. The department has called on Zheng Zeguang for a “full and thorough explanation” of the detention of Edward Lawrence. Chinese officials have claimed that Mr Lawrence “didn’t voluntarily present” his press credentials. (https://news.yahoo.com/uk-foreign-office-minister-summons-154117882.html) The broadcaster said that police claimed Mr Lawrence was arrested in case he caught Covid from the crowd.
Newsline: Russian diplomat says prisoner swap with US still possible
Russia and the United States have repeatedly been on the verge of an agreement on a prisoner exchange, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday, adding that a deal is still possible before the year’s end. Asked by reporters whether a swap is possible before the year’s end, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded that “there always is a chance.” “Regrettably, there have been a few occasions when it seemed that a decision in favor of it was about to be made, but it never happened,” he said without elaborating. “If that happened, iT would undoubtedly send a positive signal that not everything is so utterly hopeless in Russian-U.S. relations,” Ryabkov added. He reiterated Moscow’s call for the U.S. to discuss the issue discreetly and refrain from making public statements. He lamented that “Washington has been abusing ‘loudspeaker diplomacy’ instead of a quiet one, which didn’t help us to do business.” (https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/brittney-griner-russian-diplomat-says-prisoner-swap-with-us-remains-possible) The Biden administration has been trying for months to negotiate the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American jailed in Russia, Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, including through a possible prisoner swap with Moscow.
Newsline: US embassy in China warns lockdowns may intensify amid protests
The U.S. embassy in China released a statement Monday morning calling on U.S. citizens in the country to “keep a 14-day supply of medications, bottled water, and food for yourself and any members of your household.” “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) authorities have expanded COVID-19 prevention restrictions and control measures as outbreaks occur. These measures may include residential quarantines, mass testing, closures, transportation disruptions, lockdowns, and possible family separation. Ambassador Burns and other Mission officials have regularly raised our concerns on many of these issues directly with senior PRC officials and will continue to do so,” the statement reads. (https://www.foxnews.com/world/warning-us-embassy-china-signals-lockdowns-are-likely-intensify-amid-protests) David Tafuri, a former State Department official and foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign, says the State Department is trying to get ahead of the situation and prevent citizens from being caught up in a tense situation inside China.
Newsline: Russia summons Norwegian ambassador
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Norway’s ambassador to Moscow following the arrest of Russian citizens for allegedly deploying unmanned aerial vehicles illegally. According to the Russian diplomatic service in a statement, Moscow has conveyed to the Norwegian ambassador, Robert Kvile, the inadmissibility of these decisions taken by the authorities of the Scandinavian nation. The Russian representatives have remarked to Kvile that these arrests and trials “are politically motivated” and do not comply with “the principles of fair and impartial justice”, according to the Russian agency TASS. (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/moscow-summons-norwegian-ambassador-after-russians-arrested-over-alleged-illegal-drone-flights/) Finally, the Russian authorities have called for an end to what they consider to be ethnically motivated persecution of Russian citizens, which has been exacerbated since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Newsline: Global Conference on Bioweapons Faces Risks Related to Russia and Ukraine
Hundreds of diplomats and health security experts are gathering in Geneva to grapple with the increasing risk that viruses, bacteria and other pathogens could be used as weapons. But Russia’s presence threatens to undercut their efforts. Russia’s campaign alleging that the US has supported secret biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine is likely to undermine negotiations at a conference geared toward strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention, the first global disarmament treaty that sought to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. (https://news.yahoo.com/russia-ukraine-claims-risk-thwarting-050100451.html) For the first time in six years, representatives from the US, Russia, China and other countries are gathering at Geneva’s Palais des Nations starting Monday to review the treaty, which is seen as lacking the geopolitical and scientific muscle needed to verify whether nations have violated it. But health security experts say they fear that Russia will use the three-week conference as a platform to again peddle contentions intended to sow distrust in the US and Ukraine.
Newsline: Diplomats say Russia-U.S. nuclear talks postponed
Nuclear disarmament talks between Russia and the United States set to take place this week have been postponed, Moscow’s foreign ministry and the U.S.Embassy said on Monday.Officials from the two countries were due to meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo from Nov. 29 to Dec.6 to discuss resuming inspections under the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, which had been suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The previously schedled session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission under the U.S.-Russia New START Treaty in Cairo (Nov. 29-Dec. 6) will not take place on those dates,” the ministry said. “The event is postponed to a later date.” (https://kfgo.com/2022/11/28/russa-u-s-nuclear-talks-postponed/) It gave no reason, although the U.S. Embassy was quoted by the Komersant newspaper as saying the decision had been Russia’s. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had played down expectations of a breakthrough, although the talks were a sign that both sides at least wanted to maintain dialogue, even though relations are at their lowest level since the Cold War.
Newsline: Belarus’ foreign policy to remain unchanged after top diplomat’s death
Belarus’ foreign policy course will not be changed after the death of Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, regardless of who takes his office, Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, told TASS on Sunday. The expert argued that Makei “once used to be a kind of a leader of the pro-Western faction in [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko’s team.” “He was pursuing a policy that was dictated by Lukashenko. So, I don’t think that there will be any cardinal changes in Belarus’ policy to other countries,” Zharikhin said. (https://tass.com/world/1542435) Vladimir Makei died on Saturday at the age of 64. He worked at the Council of Europe and headed the European Cooperation Department of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. He was appointed foreign minister in August 2012.
Newsline: Irish Ambassador to France refuses to comment on ‘Champagnegate’
The Irish Ambassador to France has refused to publicly answer questions about last year’s ‘Champagnegate’ controversy. Former secretary general at the Department of Foreign Affairs Niall Burgess would not take questions about having a champagne celebration in Iveagh House during the lockdown. The end of Mr Burgess’ term as the top civil servant in the department was marred by controversy as he took a ‘selfie’ photograph of himself and his officials in the department standing closely together in June 2020 while strict social distancing restrictions were in place. A team of officials were celebrating following Ireland’s successful bid to get on the UN Security Council. Mr Burgess took the photograph and posted it on Twitter with the caption “Now we’re walking on air…”. (https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/ambassador-embroiled-in-champagnegate-refuses-to-comment-on-controversy-42175507.html) The tweet was deleted shortly after. Details of the event did not emerge until December of last year, causing a political firestorm for the Government and foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney.
Diplomatic Briefing 