U.S. Downgrades the Status of the EU Delegation to Washington

The EU representative, aware of the procedure, confirmed to DW that Brussels was not officially notified of the change in the status of the mission. The administration of Donald Trump downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union representation in the United States, without notifying Brussels formally. This information was confirmed to DW by the  EU representative, aware of the procedure, on Tuesday, January 8. “We don’t exactly know when they did it, because they conveniently forgot to notify us”, said the source. “I can confirm that this has not been well received in Brussels”, stressed the source and added that the EU’s official response to the measure is still under discussion. The downgrading of the mission’s status - from the diplomatic status of a member state to the level of an international organization, apparently occurred at the end of last year. Diplomats believe that it must have been implemented in late October or early November 2018.   “This is clearly not simply a protocol issue”   During this period the EU diplomats noted that the head of the mission, David O’Sullivan, had not been invited to a number high-profile events in Washington. They finally had their reduced status confirmed by officials behind the organization of the state funeral for President George H.W. Bush. “This is clearly not simply a protocol issue, but this is something that has a very obvious political motive,” the diplomat said. The US Department of State responded to a request from EU diplomatic officials that they “forgot to notify” them and clarified that this was a decision they had taken because that was apparently what the chief of protocol thinks was the proper thing to do”. Source: DW