News
By Anna Gawel
The Washington Diplomat

	Belarus Envoy Defends President’s Victory Belarusian Ambassador Mikhail Khvostov spoke with the Diplomatic Pouch about the controversial election victory of President Alexander Lukashenko and the subsequent sanctions slapped on Belarus by both the European Union and the United States.…Read More
	U.S., Mexican Officials Go Beyond Immigration As the immigration debate rages in Congress and in protests across the country, a high-level commission of Mexican officials recently met with their U.S. counterparts to discuss not only the pressing matter of immigration and border security, but a wide range of other vital issues that define the complex U.S.-Mexican relationship …Read More
	Dinner Toasts Lebanese-Americans The American Task Force for Lebanon held its annual gala awards dinner at the Fairmont Washington Hotel to honor two prominent, albeit very different, Americans of Lebanese heritage: Tony Shalhoub, actor and star of the USA Network show “Monk,” and Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory…Read More
	Foreign Ministers Promote Bilateral Relations This week, the foreign ministers of Greece and Romania came to Washington to boost the strategic partnerships that the two small countries have with the United States…Read More
	Lithuania Hosts Basketball Tournament Lithuanian Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas and his embassy engaged in some courtside diplomatic maneuvering during the fourth annual Lithuanian-American Basketball Tournament …Read More

	Jan Eliasson Becomes Sweden’s Foreign Minister Former Swedish Ambassador to the United States Jan Eliasson, now serving as president of the 60th U.N. General Assembly, has just been named his country’s minister of foreign affairs by Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson…Read More
	House of Sweden Begins to Bloom It was under former Swedish Ambassador Jan Eliasson’s stewardship that the new House of Sweden, the first foreign embassy ever built on the Potomac River, became a reality…Read More
	Arab League Is Older Than United Nations Celebrating 61 years, one more year than the United Nations, dozens of Arab ambassadors and many enthusiastic Arab-Americans crowded into the Willard InterContinental’s Crystal Ballroom for the 61st celebration of the League of Arab States on March 17…Read More
	New German Ambassador Hits Ground Running German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, who has been in Washington for only a few weeks, is wasting no time getting to work…Read More
	Peace X Peace: Bringing Women Together “Peace by Peace is truly an extraordinary organization,” said former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner at the recent awards ceremony honoring 13 women from around the world…Read More