The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has decided not to award, for now, the Consulate General in Saint Petersburg and two other posts in Moscow as part of the call for posts abroad that has just been resolved. The reason for this is that, following the government’s decision to expel 27 diplomats and employees from the Russian Embassy in Madrid, Moscow is expected to respond with a similar measure with respect to our diplomatic representations in the Russian Federation.
Given that Russia is expected to respond with the expulsion of around twenty Spanish diplomats, it is possible that one of those affected will be the current consul general in St Petersburg, Félix Valdés, or one of the diplomats whose posts had been put up for tender in “el Bombo”. Spain has a total of 26 accredited diplomats in the embassy and consulates in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Although both Valdés and the other two diplomats were scheduled to be relieved of their posts in August, in the current situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has considered that it does not make sense to proceed for now to appoint a new consul in St Petersburg or to fill the other two posts in Moscow -one of them in the Consulate and the other in the Embassy- as the Russian authorities would probably not grant them the necessary visas to travel to their destinations.
The Board of the Diplomatic Career had proposed Itziar Taboada, an experienced diplomat who was consul general in Moscow between 2016 and 2020 and is currently attached to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, as the new consul general in St Petersburg.
