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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 21:37

Spain revokes exequatur of Latvia's honorary consul in Barcelona for displaying Catalan flag

BC, Riga, 19.09.2016.Print version
The Spanish Foreign Ministry has declared Latvia's Honorary Consul in Barcelona Xavier Vinyals "not acceptable for the performance of consular functions" and withdrawn his "exequatur" or authorization after the unofficial Catalan flag was exhibited on the facade of the consulate on September 11, the National Day of Catalonia, as Spain's ABC newspaper reported on Saturday, writes LETA.

Latvian Ambassador in Spain Argita Daudze was convened on Friday to the Spanish Foreign Ministry, where she was delivered a verbal note which said that the consulate cannot display unofficial flags symbolizing support for an illegal process which looks for the disconnection of a portion of the territory of the receiving State.


According to the Spanish Foreign Ministry, the incident reflects Vinyals' support to the independence process and he, as a consul, interferes in the internal affairs of Spain.


The Foreign Ministry's press secretary Raimonds Jansons told , "A honorary consul is not an employee of the Foreign Ministry, in this case, it is a citizen of Spain, helping the embassy develop closer cooperation with a particular region, work on economic cooperation projects and organization of visits." Jansons added that the Foreign Ministry respected Spain's decision and that the incident would not affect the close cooperation between both countries.

 






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