Russia: German Diplomat Expelled From Russia, After Suspected Russian 'Spy' Forced Out Of Bonn - by Erik Kirschbaum

A German diplomat working in Moscow has been expelled, a German government official said, shortly after a Russian diplomat working in Bonn was expelled amid media reports he was a spy.

"We regret this unjustified action and expressed that to the Russian government," a German official said in a statement late on Saturday after Der Spiegel magazine reported the German was expelled in retaliation for the Russian's expulsion.

The German diplomat, a woman, worked at the German embassy in Moscow. The Russian diplomat concerned had been under observation by Germany's anti-espionage agency, the Office of the Protection of the Constitution, for several months, Der Spiegel said.

It noted that other comparable cases of diplomats being expelled in the recent past had not led to retaliation.

In July, Germany told the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country in response to questions raised about U.S. intelligence activity in Germany, including the discovery of a suspected U.S. spy in the Defense Ministry.

Read more: German Diplomat Expelled From Russia, After Suspected Russian 'Spy' Forced Out Of Bonn

Frenchman named head of EU's new diplomatic corps

The European Union handed the management of its vast new global diplomatic corps to a Frenchman on Monday as foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton named France's US ambassador her deputy.

Pierre Vimont, who was appointed to the Washington post by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in August 2007, takes the plum day-to-day management job of secretary-general of the European External Action Service.

The EEAS was a key innovation under the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which came into force less than a year ago, aiming to give the bloc's half a billion population a higher profile on the world stage.

For more: France24 - Frenchman named head of EU's new diplomatic corps

The Telegraph: EU trains a new diplomatic corps - without waiting for Lisbon Treaty - by Bruno Waterfield

For the complete report from the Telegraph click on this link

EU trains a new diplomatic corps - without waiting for Lisbon Treaty - by Bruno Waterfield

Five hundred and thirty staff from the European Commission have already begun training to build a "shared diplomatic culture and an esprit de corps" for the EU's putative External Action Service (EEAS). The disclosure that the Commission has simply pressed on regardless and begun training the euro-diplomats infuriated Irish politicians. Ireland is expected to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in October. Declan Ganley, an Irish campaigner for a "No" vote, said: "It is cause for serious concern that, by implementing the Lisbon Treaty, EU institutions are manifesting outright contempt for democracy."

Note EU-Digest: Another negative anti-EU report by the Telegraph. If Euro sceptics have problems with the EU, why don't they get out of the EU. If it had not been for their membership in the EU the economic crises would have decimated countries like Ireland and other "complainers".