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London [UK], January 24: The European Union's representatives to the United Kingdom will be granted all necessary privileges and immunities to perform their diplomatic work effectively in the UK, the UK Foreign Office press service said in a statement on Thursday.
"The EU, its Delegation and staff will receive the privileges and immunities necessary to enable them to carry out their work in the UK effectively," the statement said, quoting a spokesperson from the foreign ministry.
It comes following reports by BBC that the UK government was refusing to grant EU ambassador to the United Kingdom Joao Vale de Almeida the same full diplomatic status given to other ambassadors because the bloc is not a nation state but an international body.
The refusal to grant diplomatic status to the bloc's envoy would mean that de Almeida and his staff would not have the privileges and immunities afforded to diplomats under the Vienna Convention, or the opportunity to present his credentials to the Queen.
The UK finally left the EU on December 31 as part of the Brexit process and began a new political and economic relationship with the bloc.
Source: Sputnik