The EU has been accused of “vanity” after it emerged that the new diplomatic corps headed by Baroness Ashton will spend $53m on bullet-proof limousines for some of its 7,000 officials who will enjoy postings in Barbados and even the tiny Pacific island of Vanuatu.
The cost covers the purchase and maintenance of the 150 vehicles for four years with 30 cars being sent to missions in each of five regions around the world, including capitals where there is little or no terrorist threat.
A breakdown of the new European External Action Service (EEAS), which will have a budget of $13 billion, shows that the diplomatic postings will include sending 46 officials to Barbados, 57 to Vietnam and 95 to Ukraine.
Even the tiny Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, which has a population of just 230,000, will have six diplomats…
Stephen Booth, of the Open Europe think tank, said, “We were told that the EU’s new foreign service would be ‘budget neutral’ but this promise has been broken in its first year. At a time of widespread austerity, taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to pay for the EU’s pretensions to global power status…”
As the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Lady Ashton is the best paid female politician in the Western World and earns a salary of £230,702 a year…
If the EU is to succeed on their mission to keep up with the American State Department at self-aggrandizement they will also have to add a private army of mercenaries. Are the Hessians still available?
#20 – Barbados, sure, but Vanuatu? Great place. Been there three times.
This appears to come out to 88k a year for each limo with service included. That’s not a bad deal. Service is going to require sending probably two guys/tools/parts on a plane to wherever the problem is, plus maybe an on-site tech for basic maintenance.
#19 Stuff costs money. Deal with it.
Chris #22
Didn’t say a damned word about the costs though I would like to know how many tens of millions it’s gone cost.
My comment was entirely about the vast amount of resources being invested for a 4 day trip to India and then some quick stops for another 6 days in Korea, Indonesia, etc.
I also think it’s hilarious that O cant give single speech with out his Telpromter. And something of an insult to India that he couln’t be bothered to learn what his writers wrote.
I’ve never heard of any State visit from ANY country TO any country that required 800 staff! Did the Queen of England need 40 aircraft when she came to the US a few months ago? How about the Pope – does he travel with 800 bishops?
Much Like Michelle’s visit to Spain, this is just another of his imperial impersonations.
I don’t know if the source can be trusted but if they’re anywhere close to accurate, I was far off asking how many tens of millions of dollars this trip is gone cost. This link claims $200,000,000 oer DAY. That seems a bit excessive in the current economic climat.
http://bit.ly/caq2Hz
#23
I restate, stuff costs money. How much does it cost for Obama to operate each day, a lot! Send him overseas and he will cost a bit more.
Compare these costs to the slice a CEO takes of his corporations’ profits and Obama is a very cheap date.