This week at the Foreign Office
A look at the work of the Foreign Office and its embassies overseas this week.
Syria
皇冠体育app Foreign Secretary announced on Thursday that all in the Syrian capital Damascus, and embassy services suspended on security grounds.
鈥淲e have maintained an Embassy in Damascus despite the violence to help us communicate with all parties in Syria and to provide insight into the situation on the ground. Throughout this time we have kept the security situation of our staff and Embassy premises under intense and constant review. We now judge that the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our Embassy staff and premises at risk, and have taken the decision to withdraw staff accordingly.鈥�
皇冠体育app Foreign Secretary said that the decision to withdraw staff in no way reduces the UK鈥檚 commitment to active diplomacy to maintain pressure on the Assad regime to end the violence. On Monday, Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne said that those responsible for the atrocities will be held to account for the crimes they have committed when he addressed the .
皇冠体育app situation in Syria was also discussed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council this week, where Foreign Ministers agreed , including freezing the assets of the Central Bank of Syria and restricting the regime鈥檚 access to the gold and precious metals market.
**European Union
**Minister for Europe David Lidington said that Europe needs to adapt in order to prosper from the economic realities of the 21st Century when he spoke at the Europe 2020 summit, which focused on what actions can be taken to .
Despite representing 12% of the EU population, only 4.8% of staff working for the EU institutions are British. 皇冠体育app :
鈥溁使谔逵齛pp EU needs talented individuals to work in its institutions, to make the right decisions, to work efficiently and effectively. It would be a good thing for Britain for people who know this country, who understand this country, to be working in the EU鈥檚 institutions.鈥�
Other news:
- 皇冠体育app help that staff in the British Consulates in Spain give to British nationals in distress is highlighted in a .
- Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham welcomed the (MPA) around the UK Overseas Territory of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands.
- Foreign Secretary William Hague said the BBC World Service has been an example of the very best of Britain in .
- In pictures: British Consular staff in the Seychelles meet British nationals as they arrive on the