The Diplomat
Former Spanish ambassador to Ukraine, Silvia Cortés, is not among those to whom the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has awarded a decoration for their participation in the process of evacuating Spaniards after the Russian invasion of 24 February, The Diplomat learned.
On 2 February, during his visit to Kyiv, Albares presented the decorations awarded to the Embassy staff, including the diplomats who were stationed at the Spanish Mission when it was necessary to evacuate a hundred Spaniards by road, in difficult conditions, to the Polish border.
On his Twitter account, the minister noted that he had met with the members of the Embassy in Kyiv, and that he had decorated them, along with six Ukrainians, “for their work during the evacuation, their commitment to public service, bravery and sacrifice.” “Thank you very much for your example that inspires us all,” said Albares, who apparently did not mention the former ambassador in his thank-you speech.
When the evacuation took place, however, the minister did describe as “extraordinary” the work carried out by the ambassador in organising the operation to get the Spaniards out, in the midst of the Russian offensive.
The awarding of the decorations to her collaborators in the diplomatic representation was requested by the ambassador herself, who, after travelling to Spain, returned to Kyiv in April, accompanying the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, on his visit to Ukraine.
After that visit, the Embassy was reopened, albeit in precarious security conditions which, in June, Silvia Cortés denounced through images on her Twitter account, something that the Ministry did not like.
Cortés, who had been in Ukraine since 2017, had asked to be relieved of her post, which took place in July, shortly after the images were published.
Diplomatic circles consulted by The Diplomat were surprised that the former ambassador was excluded from the decorations, especially when in September 2021, after the evacuation carried out in Afghanistan, decorations were awarded to some twenty employees of the Embassy in Kabul, including Ambassador Gabriel Ferrán.
Silvia Cortés is a veteran diplomat, who joined the career thirty years ago and before becoming ambassador to Ukraine, she was ambassador to Albania, as well as having been posted to countries such as Israel and Germany. She was also an advisor on two occasions in Moncloa, when José María Aznar was President of the Government. She is the sister of Miguel Ángel Cortes, who was Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Latin America between 2000 and 2004, in Aznar’s second government.
