Embassy Row

HAPPY EUROPE

With Greece plummeting toward bankruptcy and citizens rioting in the streets during an economic crisis that plunged much of Europe into a financial panic, the bureaucrats at the European Union put on a smiley face over the weekend.

“Happy Europe Day!” was the cheerful headline on Sunday’s EU NewsBrief, released in an e-mail from the European delegation in Washington. The EU diplomats were reminding their readers that May 9 marked the date in 1950 when a French foreign minister named Robert Schuman proposed the forerunner of today’s EU.

As European bankers and finance ministers were scrambling to cobble together a $1 trillion bailout for Greece, Catherine Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, was touting the success of the alliance of 27 member nations.

“On the occasion of Europe Day 2010, I would like to emphasize the high importance that Europe is giving to its partners around the world,” she said. “Only together will we be able to create policies and initiatives to tackle the challenges the world is facing in the 21st century.”

Angelos Pangratis, the acting EU ambassador in Washington, referred to the Greek crisis in his weekly message on the EU delegation’s website (www.eurunion.org).

“Born out of the ashes of World War II, the EU has always been about rising to the challenge and finding new ways to work together for the common good,” he said.

“This solidarity has been tested and reaffirmed in recent weeks and months as other EU member states have come to the aid of Greece.”

DINO, THE DIPLOMAT

A hard-charging young diplomat, whom local reporters widely referred to only as “Dino,” is expected to be appointed as the next Indonesian ambassador to the United States.

Dino Patti Djalal, now serving as spokesman to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told journalists in Jakarta on Monday that he has been interviewed for the position of ambassador but would not confirm whether he had been appointed.

“The decision will not be made by me,” he told Indonesia’s Antara news service. “I will do my job wherever I am assigned.”

Antara reported that Mr. Djalal has “undergone a fit-and-proper test” for the post of ambassador in Washington, adding that “Dino” was interviewed by a legislative commission on foreign affairs.

Mr. Djalal, 44, is the son of a diplomat, Hasyim Djalal, who served in Washington and was Indonesia’s ambassador to Canada and Germany.

On his website (dinopattidjalal.com), Mr. Djalal noted that he developed a philosophy of cultural and religious tolerance through his exposure to Islamic and Christian societies. He attended elementary schools in Indonesia, whose 230 million citizens include the world’s largest Muslim population, and graduated from McLean High School in Northern Virginia when his father was serving at the Indonesian Embassy.

Mr. Djalal, through his outreach to Indonesia’s young leaders, reminds audiences that Indonesia today has no enemies and poses no threat to other nations.

“This presents a rare chance to make the whole world pro-Indonesia, and that the anti-west or xenophobic views still held in some quarters only leads to lost opportunities that harm the national interests,” he said on his website.

Mr. Djalal earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Carleton University in Ottawa and a master’s degree in political science from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia when he father was ambassador to Canada. He later received a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mr. Djalal joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1987 and helped create the Indonesia-U.S. Security Dialogue, annual bilateral consultations on security and defense matters.

Mr. Djalal is expected to replace Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, who served in Washington from 2007 to 2009.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.