Washington Life - October 2015 02 | Page 58

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NEPAL
AMBASSADOR: Arjun

Kumar Karki
Gauree Thakuri
EMBASSY: 2131 Leroy Pl. NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 2730 34th Pl. NW, 20007
SPOUSE:

‘IRISHBUTALSOEUROPEAN’

Ambassador David O’Sullivan keeps track of 28 countries, not just one

NETHERLANDS
BY GAIL SCOTT

I

’m not their boss, I’m their colleague,” says
European Union Ambassador Da vid O’Sullivan
speaking of the 28 fellow envoys whose
member states belong to the EU and represent
their home countries to the White House.
“Once a month, we get together for breakfast
at the EU Residence to talk about trade and
other things.” (The palatial Kalorama residence,
it should be noted, was
once the home of Douglas
Dillon, President Kennedy’s
treasury secretary.)
O’Sullivan is only
the second diplomat to
occupy the position of
EU ambassador to the
United States since the
Treaty of Lisbon came into
force on Dec. 1, 2009. The
Treaty called for a more
democratic, transparent and
efficient Europe, a continent
of rights, values, freedom,
solidarity and security that
was meant to be an actor on
the global stage.
Prior to arriving in the
United States, Ambassador
O’Sullivan served as the
chief operating officer of
the European External
Action Service. The EEAS supports the high
representative/vice president of the European
Commission.
“I tell Brussels what’s going on in Washington”
he says, and “tell everyone here about the EU.”
According to O’Sullivan, the EU general
mission includes humanitarian assistance and
helping member states manage political problems,
economic growth and legal migration.
“It’s about sharing, not just being on the
front line like Italy and Greece still are with the
asylum seekers,” he says of the gigantic migration
hitting European shores from Libya, Syria, Iraq
and Afghanistan. The European Union, he notes,
is the largest donor to the refugee camps and
has given four billion euros to help the Syrians
at home or in neighboring countries. To combat
the smugglers’ use of unworthy sea vessels, the

AMBASSADOR: Hendrik

EU has created a naval force. Italy and several
countries have helped.
O’Sullivan likes to remind people that the
migration in Europe is just one of many recent
difficult situations. “We had the crisis in Greece,
then Ukraine, Russia, Iran and now this migration
since May.”
Guaranteed peace and economic renewal
are the keystones of the
European Union’s goal to
ensure Europe’s place in
the world. “It only makes
sense if we approach
everything all together,”
O’Sullivan says. “We are
not the United States
of Europe. We are 28
sovereign democracies.”
An Irishman used
to cool, damp weather;
O’Sullivan loves Washington,
“especially when it’s a bit
cool with blue skies and
this special quality of light.
Washington is on a human
scale with so much green.
Cultural life is fantastic and
the Smithsonian is a joy. Plus
you have the excitement of
politics. Sometimes I feel
like an American. As a child,
age eight or nine, I came over with my mother
to visit relatives in California. Later, I was a camp
counselor for two other summers.
“My mother and I flew over on Pan Am. They
served me a 7-Up and I had no idea what it was.
Then my mother asked for tea and got a teabag.
She had never seen that in her life; she was in a
state of shock. Then we flew on with TWA and I
met the captain. He gave me “Captain’s Wings”
which I kept forever.”
Although he has only been here since
November, O’Sullivan already knows about the
huge success EU Day on the Ninth of May. “That’s
when we open all our embassies to the people
of Washington. We have performances and
everything is complimentary.
“We build our identity in layers, he concludes.
“I’m Irish but I’m also European.”

Jan
Jurriaan Schuwer
EMBASSY: 4200 Linnean Ave. NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 2347 S St. NW, 20008

NEWZEALAND
CHARGE D’AFFAIRES: Carl

Robinson Worker
Observatory
Circle, NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 2347 S St. NW, 20008
EMBASSY: 37

NICARAGUA
AMBASSADOR: Francisco

Obadiah
Campbell Hooker
SPOUSE: Miriam Hooker
EMBASSY: 1627 New Hampshire
Ave. NW, 20009
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 6434 Brookes Lane,
Bethesda, MD 20816

NIGER
AMBASSADOR: Hassana

Alidou
R St. NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 3100 Argyle St. NW, 20011
EMBASSY: 2204

NIGERIA
CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRS AD INTERIM:

Hakeem Toyin Balogun
EMBASSY: 3519 International
Ct. NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]

NORWAY
AMBASSADOR: Kaare

Reidar Aas
34th St. NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 3401 Massachusetts
Ave. NW, 20007
EMBASSY: 2720

OMAN
AMBASSADOR: Hunaina

Sultan
Ahmed Al Mughairy
SPOUSE: Fuad al-Hinai
EMBASSY: 2535 Belmont Rd NW, 20008
TELEPHONE: [phone]
RESIDENCE: 2000 24th St. NW, 20008

PAKISTAN
AMBASSADOR: Jalil
SPOUSE:

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WA S H I N G T O N L I F E

Abbas Jalani
Shaista Jilani

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