UK announces major expansion of diplomatic network as Brexit nears

For the first time, people from outside the civil service will be eligible to become ambassadors as the Foreign Office seeks to swell its numbers by almost 1,000

AFP | PTI  |  London 

An anti-Brexit protester
An anti-Brexit protester demonstrates opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, January (Photo: Reuters)

on Tuesday announced a major expansion of Britain's around the world, five months before it leaves the

In comments released ahead of a speech in on Wednesday evening, Hunt said Britain would form "an invisible chain linking the world's democracies".

It will open a new embassy in and a new mission to the (ASEAN) in

This follows announcements earlier this year on new embassies in and Niger, and nine new posts across the Commonwealth, from and to The Bahamas, Samoa and

Hunt warned that "our democratic values are arguably under greater threat than at any time since the fall of the Berlin Wall" in 1989.

"Our network of friendships is unparalleled," he said.

"They are underpinned by the values -- democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers, respect for individual civil and political rights, a belief in free trade - that bind us.

"When these values are under threat, Britain's role -- indeed obligation -- is to defend them. Which is why to do so, we must become an invisible chain linking the world's democracies."

Among the new recruits will be 335 overseas staff, while it will also invest more in training to double the number of diplomats abroad who speak the local language from 500 to 1,000.

It will increase the number of languages taught by the from 50 to 70, with additions including the Central Asian tongues of Kazakh and Kyrgyz, as well as Shona in and Gujarati in

Britain currently has 274 diplomatic posts in 169 countries and territories. After the expansion, "we will be represented in 83 percent of UN member states, the highest percentage for at least 30 years," a Foreign Office said.

Last year, Hunt's predecessor was criticised after it emerged he was cutting staff in embassies outside the EU to bolster representation within the bloc ahead of in March 2019.

First Published: Wed, October 31 2018. 05:05 IST