POLLYWOOD | EMBASSY ROW
Open House The European Union embassies invite Washington to visit and a longtime ambassador departs. BY ROLAND FLAMINI
official phrase, the “protecting power” of Syria’s interests. In Damascus, where the U.S. embassy closed in 2012 as the civil war heated up, the embassy of the Czech Republic houses the U.S. interest section, but the State Department knows of no corresponding Syrian interest section here. The U.S., though, recognizes the Washington office of what the State Department calls the “moderate” Syrian Opposition Coalition (with Najib Ghadbian as its chief representative) as a foreign mission, but says such recognition “does not establish the coalition office as the Embassy of Syria.” GOING, COMING: In the moving village that
French Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Nathalie Broadhurst kicks to DC United midfielder Julian Buescher as German Amb. Peter Wittig looks on in his embassy’s garden. (Photo courtesy of the French Embassy)
A TASTE OF EUROPE: On the tenth anniver-
sary of the European Union’s Open House Day on May 14, many of the embassies rose to the occasion with innovative ideas. In addition to the usual folk dancing and colorful dirndls, there were dribbling soccer players, video games, virtual reality tours, exhibitions of historic photos and cooking lessons. The embassy of Malta opted for a historic footnote to bilateralism, mounting a one-day exhibition of photos taken by Gen. George S. Patton, the brilliant, but irascible U.S. Army commander. The images were shot over the course of his visits to Malta during the runup to the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II. Also included: excerpts from Patton’s journal in which, said Maltese Amb. Pierre Clive Agius, “Though it was torn apart by bombs, Patton marveled at the island’s beauty and culture.” At the combined GermanFrench open house at the German Embassy,
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visitors practiced soccer moves with DC United’s German midfielder Julian Buescher: France will host the European Soccer Championship in June. The Polish Embassy’s array of playable video games from Poland’s booming video game industry was also a great draw. Offerings of national cuisine were, as usual, plentiful, but the Spanish embassy offered lessons in how to cook paella as well as eat it, and a “workshop” (it says here) about carving Serrano ham. DIPLOMATIC VOID: Who represents the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad in Washington? It seems that nobody does. It’s been two years since the Obama administration ordered the Syrian Embassy on Wyoming Avenue NW to suspend operations and its diplomatic staff to leave the country. Normal diplomatic practice would have been for another foreign mission to become, in the
is diplomatic life, recent departures this spring included Bulgarian Amb. Elena Poptodorova, and Greek Amb. Christos Panagopoulos. Poptodorova was a revenant, having served in Washington for 14 of the past 16 years, from 2002–2008, and again from 2010–2016 – not exactly a record, but much longer than most. Before leaving, she rhapsodized about her time in America, but doesn’t think she is likely to come back for yet a third term. For Panagopoulos, who arrived in 2012, it was not the best of times. His two main challenges were to explain and defend his country’s disastrous financial situation, and then the influx of Syrian refugees. All the time he was effectively homeless: the Greek residence was shuttered and renovation work halted for lack of funds, and he had to live in a rented house. Still, the general view was that the one-time star of Greece’s water polo national team had got on swimmingly here. Meanwhile, according to Moroccan media reports, the next ambassador to Washington from the Maghreb kingdom will be Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoii, currently Morocco’s ambassador to the Court of St. James and first cousin to King Mohammed V. The royal palace has yet to officially announce the princess’s appointment.
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