EU warns 'firm response' to Nicaragua's expulsion of EU ambassador
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The European Union throws hands at the Latin American country's sovereign rights.
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EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.
The European Union is criticizing Nicaragua's decision to expel its ambassador, Bettina Muscheidt, in addition to severing ties with the Netherlands, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday.
The United States and its allies have gone to embark on what they do best: Interference in other countries' domestic affairs; in this case, pressuring President Daniel Ortega's leftist government on what it calls the 'dramatic' deterioration of human rights.
"The EU profoundly regrets and rejects this unjustified and unilateral decision," Borrell said of the expulsion.
"These hostile, unwarranted actions" would not only effect relations between Nicaragua and EU but would lead to Managua's further international isolation, said Borrell, warning that the bloc will respond in a "firm and proportional manner.
"The current political crisis in Nicaragua should be resolved through genuine dialogue between the government and opposition."
After being declared persona non grata, Muscheidt left the country.
Read next: Nicaragua removes signal of CNN en Español channel
Nicaragua bans US envoy, cuts diplomatic ties with the Netherlands
President Daniel Ortega banned US envoy Hugo Rodriguez from entering Nicaragua on account of his "interfering" behavior. Although Nicaragua already stated that any such visit would be barred in July, the US Senate still confirmed Rodriguez's appointment on Thursday.
"The government of Nicaragua, in use of its powers and in exercise of its national sovereignty, immediately withdraws the approval granted to the candidate Hugo Rodriguez," the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said in a statement in July, following Hugo Rodriguez's nomination by US President Joe Biden in May as the next US Ambassador in Nicaragua, succeeding Kevin Sullivan.
According to Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also Ortega's wife, Rodriguez would "will not under any circumstances be admitted into our Nicaragua," adding, "Let that be clear to the imperialists," as she read a statement from the foreign office.
Nicaragua said it decided to withdraw its approval of Rodriguez because of "disrespectful" comments he made in a hearing before the Senate, whereby Rodriguez labeled the Central American country as a "pariah state in the region" and branded Ortega's government a "dictatorship".
