U.K., EU reach deal to give bloc’s envoy full diplomatic status

The U.K. and the European Union have resolved a dispute over the status of the bloc’s top diplomat in London, bringing an end to a row that soured already troubled relations between the two sides after Brexit.

The U.K. appears to have backed down and will now give full diplomatic status to the EU’s delegation and giving its chief envoy, Joao Vale de Almeida, the position of ambassador. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government had previously refused to grant the status given to envoys from foreign states.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and the EU High Representative Josep Borrell met to finalize the arrangement in the margins of the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in London, they said in a joint statement.