01/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – The Venezuelan ambassador to the European Union, Claudia Salerno Caldera, may have been declared persona non grata by the EU-27, but she is not, at this stage, being called upon to leave Brussels, unlike the EU ambassador to Venezuela, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, whose departure from Caracas is imminent (see EUROPE 12666/38). Mrs Salerno Caldera also represents her country in dealings with Belgium and Luxembourg, so only the Belgian authorities can ask her to leave the country. Linked to the recent EU decision to sanction 19 additional officials of the Maduro regime, this reciprocal EU measure, taken following the Venezuelan decision against Mrs Brilhante Pedrosa, will not, at this stage, lead to an effect similar to the expulsion decreed by Venezuela. The head of the EU delegation in Benin is the last EU ambassador to be expelled, in November 2019 (see EUROPE 12381/22). (MB)