Mass media: The EU no longer sees interest in Belarus

The Foreign Policy Service of the European Union intends to reduce about 10 foreign diplomatic delegations due to budget cuts. This is stated in the material of the Politico publication.

According to the document, which was reviewed by the publication, as well as according to some officials, the diplomatic department The EU is ready to cut about 10 foreign delegations and about 100 local staff amid budget cuts and larger-scale reshuffles. Earlier, the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, presented a plan for the reorganization of the European External Relations Service (EEAS) to senior officials of the European Commission. According to officials, she received a green light from them to carry out the reorganization, which will be carried out over the next two years.

In addition, according to one of the officials, the delegations targeted by the cuts are in countries where "the EU no longer feels a strong interest in sending a significant number of diplomats and staff, such as Belarus or Lesotho." At the same time, he added that the bloc's priorities are shifting from development assistance to achieving strategic interests, such as enforcing sanctions or defense partnership.

At the same time, Politico clarifies that the EEAS does not plan to officially close any of its 144 foreign delegations, but about 10 will be reduced to the main staff — the ambassador and one or two assistants. It is expected that the reduction in the number of employees will take place in two stages in 2026 and 2027.

Earlier it became known that the European External Relations Service has expanded from several dozen employees to more than 5.2 thousand worldwide. Delegations are responsible for relations with local authorities, the distribution of EU funds and grants. However, the bloc now seeks to focus more narrowly on strategic interests, such as interacting with governments that play a role in enforcing sanctions. The EU is against Russia.