Kosovo’s President makes diplomatic gaffe
Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu made a diplomatic gaffe on Monday when he met a senior Greek official without knowing who he was
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Pristina Koha Ditore daily reports that Sejdiu was supposed to meet Christos Zacharakis, the special representative of Greek foreign ministry to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE.
But since Zacharakis was unable to make it to the meeting, he was replaced by Nikolaos Kalantzianos, a senior official from the Greek foreign ministry.
However the President's cabinet were apparently not informed about the change and Sejdiu proceeding with the meeting assuming he was meeting Athens' envoy to the OSCE.
"I would like to inform you that I had a very friendly meeting with ambassador Christos Zacharakis...," Sejdiu told reporters after meeting Kalantzianos.
Embarrassed but not wishing to create a fuss, Kalantzianos was brief when he addressed reporters.
According to Koha Ditore, Kalantzianos was neither properly received nor walked out of the President's office by people from his protocol. The daily quotes anonymous sources saying that Sejdiu realised whom he really had met only after the press conference.
