by Although there is no official established casuistry on how diplomatic disputes between countries are resolved, tradition imposes a certain order in diplomatic clashes. Unless an offense is very serious, relationships are not usually broken directly. These are some of the most common tools in diplomacy to promote formal complaints or to launch retaliation against other countries, from least to most serious.
Verbal note: It is an official written communication, written in the third person, addressed by a Diplomatic Mission (for example, the Spanish Embassy in London, Argentina or Tel Aviv) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the receiving State. It is called verbal because in the past it collected the terms of a conversation and used to be delivered at its end, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Currently, it is the diplomatic note par excellence.
In August of last year, for example, Spain issued a note verbale to the United Kingdom to protest each and every one of the incidents that occurred that summer in the waters surrounding Gibraltar, and which included the harassment of fishermen and Spanish Civil Guard patrol boats, as this newspaper reported.
Call for inquiries: Order sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to an ambassador or head of mission in another country to urgently appear at the Ministry, to report on a certain matter and receive instructions. It is normally linked to a diplomatic conflict and is a public display of anger.
This is what the minister, José Manuel Albares, has ordered to the Spanish ambassador in Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso, who must return to Madrid as diplomatic retaliation against Buenos Aires, after the Argentine president, Javier Milei, called it “corrupt” to Pedro Sánchez’s wife, without naming her. It is a temporary and undated withdrawal, although Albares has insisted on this occasion that the withdrawal is “sine die.” Israel recalled its ambassador in Madrod Rodica Radian-Gordon to Tel Aviv for consultations last November, after Pedro Sánchez pointed out that the country was violating international law in the war in Gaza, with around 40,000 dead, in mostly civilians. The ambassador returned a month later and was received by Pedro Sánchez in Moncloa.
Summon an ambassador: It is about summoning the head of mission of a foreign country to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss some relevant matter.
In the diplomatic crisis with Argentina, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has summoned the Argentine ambassador to Spain, Roberto Bosch, to “demand” that its president, Javier Milei, apologize for the offenses expressed during his trip to Spain during the conclave of the extreme right organized by Vox in Madrid. Albares will receive the ambassador “personally”, he said, although the most common thing is that he is received by someone of lower rank, normally an area director or a secretary of State. In the crisis with Israel, the Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, summoned the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana María Salomón, for “a harsh reprimand” for Sánchez’s words.
Persona non grata and expulsion of ambassador: It is the declaration that, at any time, the receiving State can make about the head of mission or any other member of the diplomatic staff, which is communicated without the need to express the reasons, and implies that that person must be removed or cease in his or her duties. . as defined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Spain, like other countries, expelled some of the officials from the Russian Embassy in Madrid, but kept the ambassador.
On January 25, 2018, the Government of Nicolás Maduro named the Spanish ambassador Jesús Silva persona non grata and expelled him for alleged political interference by Spain in Venezuela, following the sanctions imposed by the EU against Chavista leaders. Spain applied diplomatic reciprocity and the government of Spain declared the Venezuelan ambassador in Madrid, Mario Isea, persona non grata and expelled him. Relations were reestablished on April 19 of the same year, in a context of increased international sanctions against the Chavista regime. Normality was restored last year with the reciprocal sending of ambassadors.
Breaking of diplomatic relations: It is the ultimate measure of diplomatic retaliation. It is usually an official declaration and involves withdrawing all embassy staff and cutting ties and communication.
In 1980, the Spanish Government decided to break diplomatic relations with Guatemala, due to “the conduct followed by the authorities.” after the Police assault on the Embassy in which 39 people died. The country was then experiencing a civil war, and a group of peasants had attacked the delegation, which was then attacked by the forces of order.
An ambassador can have been expelled and still have some representative. This is what Morocco and Algeria did in two diplomatic clashes against Spain. They kept a “number two” at the embassy, the so-called chargé d’affaires. Iran and Israel, for example, have no diplomatic relations, nor diplomatic missions in their respective capitals, and speak only through third countries, which act as mediators. Switzerland, for example, has represented American interests in Iran since the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran in 1980.
