Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

Spain fires its ambassador to Belgium after a damning probe

Associated Press
Published | Updated

MADRID – Spain has dismissed its ambassador in Belgium following an internal investigation into what was described as serious anomalies in the functioning of its diplomatic mission in Brussels.

The termination was proposed by Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, approved by the Council of Ministers, signed by King Felipe and published Saturday in Spain's Official Gazette.

Ignacio Matellanes was named ambassador to Belgium in March 2012 and had previously been ambassador to Nicaragua as well as the foreign ministry's technical secretary general and consul in Brussels and Naples, Italy.

Garcia-Margallo has had to fire several officials since taking office in 2011, including Spain's consul in Boston who decided to close his legation as normal two hours after the April 2013 marathon bombings without providing any emergency communication alternative.