Fell asleep during speech by Foreign Minister: Spain fires diplomat over incident during meeting

Fell asleep during the speech of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: in Spain, a diplomat was fired due to an incident during a meeting Margarita Voloshina

The head of the Spanish Embassy in Belgium, Alberto Anton, lost his job after dozing off during a meeting of ambassadors in Madrid. At the time, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez was speaking.

The decision was made after a video appeared on the Internet showing Anton sleeping during the hour-long monologue of the head of the Spanish Foreign Ministry at the annual conference of ambassadors, 24 Channel reports with reference to The Times.

What is known about the incident

According to The Times, after this incident, the Association of Spanish Diplomats sent a letter to Albarez demanding that he observe “transparency, equal opportunities, merit and ability during diplomatic appointments.”

The Spanish Foreign Minister was informally dubbed Napoleonchu, or “Little Napoleon”, due to his tough work style and frequent dismissals of officials who act without coordinating with Madrid.

The publication reports that Albarez fired about seven employees of the Foreign Ministry due to mistakes that contradicted government policy. For example, when Queen Elizabeth II died in Britain, he forbade diplomats from commenting on it.

By the way, recently a politician from the ruling People's Party in Valencia, Spain, Jose Mari Olano, was caught buying wine online while discussing the consequences of the deadly floods. The official has already apologized for his behavior.