Spain seeking to end spat with Greece over ambassador comments

The request on Monday by Spanish EU Affairs Minister Jorge Toledo Albinana for a meeting with Greece’s ambassador in Madrid Christodoulos Lazaris was, according to diplomatic sources, an expression of Spain’s desire to end a diplomatic spat with Athens over the Catalan independence drive.  

On Sunday, Greece had called on Spain’s ambassador to Athens Enrique Viguera to take back statements he made to a Greek newspaper indicating that Athens was not backing Spanish unity with regard to the Catalan crisis.

According to the same sources, Albinana told the Greek ambassador that Viguera was “totally out of line” and his behavior was not becoming of an ambassador of his calibre.