Daily Archives: December 30, 2016

Greek Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis Murdered, Wife and Brazilian Policeman in Custody

December 30, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, Media, Social Media, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 8:30 pm PT
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The Greek Foreign Ministry released a statement on the death of its ambassador in Brazil:

The Brazilian authorities just officially announced the identification of the remains of the deceased Greek Ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis, which were found charred in the region of Nova Iguaçu in Rio de Janeiro.

We express our deepest sorrow at the tragic death of Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis, a friend of Brazil, who throughout his diplomatic career served Greece conscientiously and responsibly. The late diplomat served at the Permanent Mission of Greece to the EU, at the General Consulates in Rio de Janeiro and Rotterdam, and at the Greek Embassy in Belgrade during the first phase of the war in Yugoslavia.

A milestone in his career was his term as Ambassador of Greece in Tripoli, Libya, and his decisive role in the evacuation, under conditions of extreme violence, of the Embassy staff, of Greeks in Libya as well as of thousands of third-country nationals from Libya in the summer of 2014.

Finally, his contribution to the organization of the International Conference on “Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East” in Athens in October 2015 was of key importance.

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Russia Responds: -35 Not Cold Enough, Will Not Expel Anyone; Trump Praises Putin’s “Great Move”

December 30, 2016 By in Diplomatic Life, Huh? News, Media, Social Media, Spectacular, Trends, Trump Tags: , , ,

Posted: 5:53 pm PT
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Yesterday, the United States PNG’d 35 Russian officials and imposed new sanctions (see USG Declares 35 Russian Officials Persona Non Grata, Imposes New Sanctions). There was also a CNN report that the Anglo American School of Moscow was ordered shut down yesterday. The director of the school released a statement on FB today saying senior Russian officials have refuted the story and that the school is planning to open as scheduled following the holiday break.

Yesterday, MFA Russia said “We will certainly response adequately.”

Today, MFA Russia says “-35 is not cold enough.”  Russia has responded to USG actions by saying that although it has “a right to retaliate” it will not “resort to irresponsible kitchen diplomacy” but will plan “further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.”

It also says it will not expel anyone and invites “all children of US diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children’s parties in the Kremlin.”

The Russian Consulate in San Francisco where some of the PNG’d officials are located tweets that “It’s so difficult to remain diplomatic… but we will.” It also released a statement on FB on its “very different, very undiplomatic feelings” saying “We hate to have to say goodbye to close to a dozen of our colleagues, our friends.”

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump has responded to Mr. Putin’s decision not to go with a ‘tit for tat’ response with a tweet praising the Russian leader’s “great move” and melted down Twitter:

The parody accounts, of course, are having a field day today and presumably, the next four years.

Da end.

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