Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for February 23, 2023
Newsline: EU top diplomat criticizes Spanish left
The head of EU diplomacy and ex-minister for the ruling PSOE party (S&D), Josep Borrell, called the leftist Podemos party (EU Left) “naive” over their hopes to tackle the Ukranian conflict without weapons. For its part, Podemos insists that peace sooner or later will come and asks Borrell “how many deaths” he could accept by that time. (https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/eu-top-diplomat-calls-spanish-left-naive-over-ukraine-war/) Since Russia’s war against Ukraine started, Podemos, a partner of the Spanish governing coalition, has been adamant about sending arms to Ukraine. Ione Belarra, Secretary General of Podemos and Minister of Social rights, called once again on their coalition partner PSOE on 17 February to reconsider their position, fearing an escalation of the conflict and mobilisation of troops.PSOE has insisted on their support for sending weapons as part of a common European response to the conflict.
Newsline: U.S. embassy in London back to normal after security alert
The U.S. embassy in London said it was resuming normal operations after a security alert caused by a suspicious package outside the building on Wednesday. (https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/world/u-s-embassy-in-london-back-to-normal-after-security-alert/ar-AA17Ngin) “The U.S. Embassy is back to normal business operations. Local authorities investigated and cleared a suspicious package outside the Embassy,” the embassy’s official Twitter account said.
Newsline: Dominican consulate in Madrid evicted due to complaints of noise
The Dominican consulate’s operations at its current headquarters in Madrid, Spain, are coming to an end. The court’s eviction order has the force of a sentence, so its transfer is urgent. Spain has the second-highest Dominican immigration, with over 187,345 dominicans. “When they evict, they are not only evicting the consulate, but also the Central Electoral Board and the Passport Directorate, which operate in the same building,” a source explained. According to the source, the court order is the result of years of litigation and continuous complaints from tenants and building owners about the noise and the confluence of people searching for services. Residents complained to the owner of the premises where the consular mission operates, and he saw no other option but to sue the consulate to force it to leave the premises because he is not interested in renewing the contract. (https://dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2023/01/27/consulate-of-the-dominican-republic-in-madrid-must-abandon-its-headquarters-due-to-noise-complaints/) According to the source, this is not a conflict that arose during the current consul’s management or in the past. He stated that it has been a problem for many years. He noted that the consulate had filed an appeal, but that most legal remedies had been exhausted.
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