Nicaragua expels EU ambassador

Nicaragua's government has told EU ambassador Bettina Muscheidt to leave the country.

According to diplomatic sources, Muscheidt was notified by Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada of her expulsion on Wednesday. She was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where she was officially declared "persona non grata."

The decision by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government to expel Muscheidt comes after the European Union had urged that it "restore democracy," respect human rights and release political prisoners.

According to independent Nicaraguan media outlets, a Foreign Ministry official had accused the European Union of "interference and disrespect for national sovereignty."

In a tweet, Arturo McFields, an ex-ambassador to the Organization of American States, said Muscheidt "has been expelled in a vulgar way." McFields had resigned from his post earlier in March.

Muscheidt's expulsion from the country has not been confirmed by Nicaragua's government.

Muscheidt is the second European diplomat to be expelled from Nicaragua this year. In February, the Vatican's ambassador to Managua, Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was also declared persona non grata and was ordered to leave.

In the past four years, several sanctions measures for human rights violations have been imposed on Nicaraguan officials by the European Union and the United States.

mf/jcg (AP, AFP, Reuters)