The Diplomat in Spain

Lau Kjeld Andersen and Franca Lorella Deza.

The Diplomat. 03/03/2018

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is upset with the Consul General of Peru in Barcelona, ​​Franca Lorella, and the Honorary Consul of Denmark in that city, Lau Kjeld Andersen, for his actions following the dismissal of Albert Ginjaume as honorary consul of Finland after the Government considered that the activities of the latter were incompatible with the functions that were granted.

In the case of Lorella, the Peruvian consul sent a letter to the Finnish ambassador in Madrid, Tiina Jortikka-Laitinen, in which she highlighted the work carried out by Ginjaume in Barcelona. In the letter was presented as the dean of the Consular Corps in this city and hinted that her writing was supported by the other foreign colleagues, an extreme that was later denied by the Peruvian representative.

After learning of this initiative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the Peruvian ambassador in Madrid, José Antonio García Belaunde, to express its displeasure at the action of his consul general in Barcelona, ​​according to official Spanish sources.

As far as the Danish representative is concerned, Andersen had a similar initiative to Lorella in sending a letter to the Finnish ambassador underlining the good performance of Ginjaume. The aforementioned sources announced that the same complaint would be transferred to the Danish ambassador in Madrid, John Nielsen.

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Foreign Affairs sent in November to the Embassy of Finland the first of several complaints against his consul

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From Exteriores wanted to emphasize that the cessation of Ginjaume claimed by Spain is not due to a meeting with the president of the Diputación de Barcelona and Mayor of Sant Cugat, Mercè Conesa (PDeCAT), which was attended by other consuls settled in the cited city.

In fact, complaints to the Finnish Embassy began in November and there were several “warnings” until in February Ambassador Jortikka-Laitinen was required to dismiss the honorary consul for “non-exemplary conduct” by making “public demonstrations” to favor of the independence process.