Brexit: UK grants EU ambassador full diplomatic status in end to row
The UK has today agreed to grant the EU’s post-Brexit ambassador to Britain full diplomatic status in a move that ends a long-running row.
In a joint statement, the UK and EU said ambassador João Vale de Almeida would receive “a status consistent with heads of missions of states”.
This means he will be given official diplomatic immunity and will be exempt from detention, prosecution or taxation while in the UK.
The statement added that Almeida will “have the privileges and immunities needed to function effectively, while allowing for effective administration of justice” and that the UK and EU looked forward to “moving ahead and tackling global challenges together”.
Almeida was appointed as the EU’s man in London last year, however Boris Johnson’s government refused to officially recognise him.
The UK’s decision to not grant diplomatic status to Almeida riled EU officials, with Brussels in turn freezing out Britain’s ambassador Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby from official communications.
Foreign Office sources told The Times last week that the row had created an “unhealthy, chilling effect” between officials and that the UK was set to back down on its previous stance.
“It is a silly dispute but has had a corrosive effect,” they said.
Former Conservative foreign secretary William Hague wrote in The Times last month that it would “costs us nothing” to grant diplomatic status to Almeida.
“This would allow our own ambassador to the EU to be admitted to high-level meetings in Brussels,” he said.