Diplomatic credentials

Last updated

Diplomatic credentials are documents presented by foreign ambassadors and ministers to the chief of state of the host government. The documents, which follow a standard text, identify the diplomats as representatives of their governments and empowered to speak for them.

Ambassador diplomatic envoy

An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also often used more liberally for persons who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities and fields of endeavor such as sales.

Contents

According to diplomatic protocol, ambassadors or ministers may not represent their governments before a host government's foreign ministry until their credentials have been formally presented in person and have been accepted by the host government's chief of state. Once their credentials are accepted, they are considered diplomatically accredited to the host government and are considered an officer of the host government as well as their own.

A recall letter of previously presented credentials is often submitted along with new credentials. [1]

List of policies by state(s)

Afghanistan

The President of Afghanistan holds a ceremony for each incoming foreign Ambassador to accept their diplomatic credentials. The ceremony typically takes place in the Arg, the Afghan presidential palace, and press releases announce the accreditation. [2] [3]

President of Afghanistan office of the head of state of Afghanistan

The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the head of state and head of government of Afghanistan. The incumbent office holder is Ashraf Ghani.

Arg (Kabul) presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan

The Arg serves as the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. It sits on a 34-hectare (83-acre) site in District 2, between Deh Afghanan and the affluent neighbourhood of Wazir Akbar Khan. The Arg was built after the destruction of the Bala Hissar in 1880 by the British Indian troops. It has been used by many Afghan kings and presidents, from Emir Abdur Rahman Khan to current President Ashraf Ghani.

European Union

The European Union has a standard policy across all of its member countries, with some minor variations. Letters of Credence from the presenting Ambassador must be signed by their Head of State. The foreign representative may be accompanied to the presentation of diplomatic credentials by up to two guests, usually staff of their Mission. In terms of etiquette, no speeches are allowed during the presentation of credentials, and a “dark suit or national costume should be worn.” The Union mandates a photographic account of the presentation be recorded and sent to the President of the European Commission. [4]

European Union Economic and poitical union of states located in Europe

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi) and an estimated population of about 513 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished. A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

President of the European Commission head of the European Commission

The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union. The President of the Commission leads a cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the college, collectively accountable to the European Parliament. The President is empowered to allocate portfolios amongst, reshuffle or dismiss Commissioners as necessary. The college directs the Commission's civil service, sets the policy agenda and determines the legislative proposals it produces.

Israel

Ambassadors are received by the President of Israel in group accreditation ceremonies where Letters of Credence are received. [5]

President of Israel position

The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely a ceremonial figurehead role, with executive power vested in the Government and the Prime Minister. The current president is Reuven Rivlin, who took office on 24 July 2014. Presidents are elected by the Knesset for a single seven-year term.

United Kingdom

All recognized foreign ambassadors meet with the reigning British monarch and present Letters of Credence, also known as Letters of High Commission among Commonwealth countries, to the monarch. As a traditional gesture, the British Government takes the Ambassador to their Embassy using a State Landau from the Royal Mews. All Foreign Missions have their credentials registered at the Court of St. James’ in London. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Chargé daffaires</i> head of diplomatic mission when no higher official exists

A chargé d'affaires, often shortened to chargé (French) and sometimes to charge-D, is a diplomat who heads an embassy in the absence of the ambassador. The term is French for "charged with matters". A female diplomat may be designated a chargée d'affaires, following French declension.

Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.

Diplomatic correspondence correspondence between a state, nation or sovereign with another

Diplomatic correspondence is correspondence between one state and another, usually – though not exclusively – of a formal character. It follows several widely observed customs and style in composition, substance, presentation, and delivery and can generally be categorized into letters and notes.

Courtesy call formal diplomatic meeting

A courtesy call is a call or visit made out of politeness.

United States Ambassador to Texas

The United States recognized the Republic of Texas, created by a new constitution on March 2, 1836, as a new independent nation and commissioned its first representative, Alcee La Branche as the chargé d'affaires in 1837. The U.S. never sent a full minister to Texas, but a series of chargés represented the government in Austin until Texas joined the Union.

United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia

The nation of Yugoslavia was formed on December 1, 1918 as a result of the realignment of nations and national boundaries in Europe in the aftermath of World War I. The nation was first named the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The kingdom occupied the area in the Balkans comprising the present-day states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, and most of present-day Slovenia and Croatia. The United States recognized the newly formed nation and commissioned its first envoy to the kingdom on July 17, 1919. Previously the USA had had an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary who was commissioned to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia while resident in Bucharest, Romania. Towards the end of the 1930s, the diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Washington were raised from ministerial to the ambassadorial level.

In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.

An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the system of diplomatic ranks established by the Congress of Vienna (1815), an envoy was a diplomat of the second class who had plenipotentiary powers, i.e., full authority to represent the government. However, envoys did not serve as the personal representative of their country's head of state. Until the 20th century, most diplomatic missions were legations headed by diplomats of the envoy rank. Ambassadors were only exchanged between great powers, close allies, and related monarchies.

Freddy Padilla de León Colombian general and diplomat

General Freddy José Padilla de León is a retired General of the Army of Colombia and currently serves as Ambassador of Colombia to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna. Prior to this diplomatic post General Padilla served as the General Commander of the Armed Forces of Colombia from 2006 to 2010, and as such assumed the Ministry of National Defence ad interim in 2009.

References

  1. ↑ State, United States Dept of (2012-08-31). Personal instructions to the diplomatic agents of the United States in foreign countries. Ulan Press.
  2. ↑ "President Ghani Accepts Diplomatic Credentials of New Australian Ambassador". Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. January 24, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  3. ↑ "President Ghani Accepts Diplomatic Credentials of New Non-resident Ambassador of Azerbaijan". Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. June 7, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Vade-mecum for the use of the diplomatic corps accredited to the European Union and to the European Atomic Energy Community". European Commission Protocol Service. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ "President Rivlin receives diplomatic credentials of new ambassadors". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. August 6, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Ambassador credentials". The British Monarchy. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.