Wednesday

27th Sep 2023

EU ambassadors stand by Iran leader

Top diplomats from all but two EU embassies in Iran attended the inauguration of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Wednesday (5 August).

The Swedish EU presidency, the UK, France, Spain, Finland, Greece and the Czech republic were present at ambassador level, the Swedish foreign ministry told EUobserver.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • At least 30 people died and hundreds were wounded during post-election protests in June (Photo: news.gooya.com)

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia sent charges d'affaires - acting heads of mission when the ambassador is away.

Only Germany and Austria stood out by sending lower rank representatives.

The EU last month criticised Iran's violent crackdown on opposition protesters and threatened to pull out its ambassadors after the arrest of nine British diplomats.

But it has steered clear of questioning the legitimacy of the election to avoid accusations of outside interference.

The EU presence at the inauguration event stands in contrast to the actions of moderate Iranian politicians such as Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who stayed away in protest.

Opposition leader Hossein Musavi and around 70 other MPs were also absent.

"This was an excellent opportunity for Sweden, as current holder of the EU presidency, to show solidarity with the people who have been fighting for free and fair elections in Iran, and that chance was wasted," Urban Ahlin, a spokesman for Sweden's opposition Social Democratic party, said on Swedish radio.

Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt wrote in his blog that diplomats need to work with countries such as Iran or North Korea, citing Swedish support in recently helping to free two US journalists held in the Asian country.

"It is clearly better to be present than to be absent," he said.

"Participation in an official ceremony [the Ahmadinejad inauguration] does not mean that we support this government or its actions. As the [EU] presidency, it's important to keep open our channels of communication," Swedish foreign ministry spokesman, Anders Jorle, told this website.

The British foreign office in a statement described its decision to attend as "hard-headed diplomacy."

"We have not sent a message of congratulations to president Ahmadinejad. But ...communication channels have to be kept open," it also said.

EU’s €500m gender violence plan falls short, say auditors

The 'Spotlight Initiative' was launched in 2017 with a budget of €500 million to end all forms of violence or harmful practices against women and girls in partner countries, but so far it has had "little impact", say EU auditors.

Latest News

  1. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  2. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  3. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  4. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  5. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  6. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?
  7. IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later
  8. The failure of the Just Energy Transition Fund in South Africa

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us