LONDON: Britain is refusing to give full diplomatic status to the European Union’s ambassador in London, causing a row between the recently divorced parties, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Britain, an EU member for 46 years, voted to quit in 2016 and completed its tortuous journey out of the bloc on Dec. 31, when Brexit fully took effect.
The BBC reported that the Foreign Office was refusing to grant the same diplomatic status and privileges to EU ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida and his team as it gives to envoys of countries, on the basis that the EU is not a nation state.
The Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The EU has 143 delegations, equivalent to diplomatic missions, around the world. All of them have been granted full diplomatic status by the host countries.
The BBC quoted a letter sent to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab by Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, in which he said London’s proposals on the…