The European Union on Monday declared the Nicaraguan ambassador in Brussels persona non grata in response to the expulsion of its ambassador in Managua, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced.
Announcing the decision, the EU Foreign Policy Chief said in a statement that it was a reciprocal response to the Nicaraguan government's decision on 28 September to declare the Head of the EU Delegation to Nicaragua persona non grata, which the EU considered to be unjustified.
Borrell had announced a "firm response" from the EU to the Nicaraguan decision. "The EU profoundly regrets and rejects this unjustified and unilateral decision," he said one day after the expulsion of Ambassador Bettina Muscheidt.
"The EU also profoundly regrets the disproportionate and unjustified unilateral decision taken on Friday by the Nicaraguan government to sever diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of the Netherlands," he added.
These "hostile and unjustified" actions will not only affect bilateral relations between Nicaragua and the EU and its Member States but will also lead to increased international isolation of Nicaragua, he warned.
The international community has constantly condemned the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, re-elected in November 2021 for a fourth consecutive term in a ballot from which his main potential opponents were absent, arrested or forced into exile.
The EU and the United States have imposed numerous sanctions against Nicaragua and Nicaraguan government figures over the past four years, citing in particular human rights violations.
