Geographic faux-pas

Series Title
Series Details 23/05/96, Volume 2, Number 21
Publication Date 23/05/1996
Content Type

Date: 23/05/1996

It's not easy being a foreign affairs spokesman, dealing with lots of countries, many of them with strange-sounding names.

So Entre Nous sympathises with Hans van den Broek's mouthpiece, Nico Wegter, who almost caused a diplomatic incident recently when briefing journalists on a forthcoming General Affairs Council.

Nigeria and its constitutional reform programme would be on the agenda, announced Wegter. Journalists who know a thing or two pricked up their ears. Tell us more, they urged. What constitutional reform? Does this signal the end of the embargo?

Wegter, who also knows a thing or two, particularly about tricky questions from journalists, refused to be thrown off course. He even insisted that it might be too early to talk about lifting the embargo yet.

Indeed it might, for Wegter was really talking about Niger, and not Nigeria, a distinction which he did not realise for some minutes.

Hacks have vowed to take along an atlas next time, just in case.

Subject Categories
Countries / Regions