Britain seeks to sell some of its embassy abroad
Britain faces a difficult choice in reducing its diplomatic presence around the world, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks to sell part of its extensive assets valued at 2.5 billion pounds."RTL" lang="AR-SA"Financial documents issued this week indicate that the ministry is working to “rationalize” Its collection of about 6,500 properties in an attempt to find “assets for sale”, while many of these buildings are suffering from significant deterioration in their condition – according to what was reported by “Politico” magazine. European Today, Friday.
The Foreign Ministry’s plan includes selling buildings, such as embassies and diplomatic residences that are no longer necessary, as part of repairs,"FCDO2030" which aims to restructure the ministry’s work and functional structure in the United Kingdom and around the world.
Among the buildings that may be sold were properties in “high-cost locations such as New York,” including a luxury apartment worth 12 million pounds, purchased in 2019 to facilitate the negotiation of trade deals with the United States, after Britain’s exit from the Union. European.
The financial oversight bodies in Britain raised major concerns this year about the dilapidated condition of British diplomatic properties abroad.
About 933 of these properties (about 15% of the total) have been assessed as unfit or unsafe, and the Foreign Office estimates that repairing these deteriorating buildings will require £450 million..
These measures come as part of a series of reductions in Britain’s diplomatic role in the world, after cutting the international aid budget, which also funds the BBC World Service.
Olivia O’Sullivan, Director of the UK in the World programme, said: At the Chatham House Institute, it is not surprising that the government is looking to reduce its foreign holdings in light of these significant cuts.
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