Johnson Triggers Row With EU Over Envoy’s Status in London
- U.K. has withheld full diplomatic status for EU’s ambassador
- Tory MP calls British move ‘petty’ and bloc demands rethink
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Boris Johnson’s decision not to grant full diplomatic status to the European Union’s ambassador in London triggered a row that threatens to undermine relations with the bloc, weeks after both sides signed a free-trade agreement to conclude the Brexit process.
The EU said envoy Joao Vale de Almeida has not been granted the same status as other ambassadors and accused the British government of contravening international convention by treating it differently to a nation state. Johnson’s move was dubbed “petty” by his own Conservative Party colleague Tobias Ellwood, who chairs Parliament’s defense committee.