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“Persona non grata” refers to an unwelcome person, either in a personal or diplomatic sense. Diplomats who break rules or are suspected of espionage can be declared persona non grata and expelled from a country. Past actions can also lead to this status, as seen with Kurt Waldheim.
Persona non grata is a Latin term that refers to a person who is not welcome. The term is used formally to describe the unwelcome presence of a diplomat, such as when two countries go to war with each other. It can also be used in a personal sense, when an individual or group ignores another person. For example, one might say: “In high school, I was persona non grata. I walked the corridors but no one noticed I existed.”
In a formal diplomatic sense, the status can be applied to a diplomat or diplomatic staff member who breaks the rules of the country in which he is located. A person who is a diplomat enjoys diplomatic immunity from the country’s laws, but if he violates the country’s laws, he can be declared persona non grata and expelled from the country.
Another reason for persona non grata is if a diplomat is suspected of espionage. A suspected spy will usually not be treated by the foreign country and will not be recognized as the authority of a representative country. A diplomat suspected of being a spy could be sent home and replaced by one who is not a suspect.
Sometimes, a person’s past can classify them as persona non grata. This was the case with Kurt Josef Waldheim, who served as president of Austria from 1986 to 1992, and was secretary general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981. Rumors of his knowledge of or participation in Nazi war crimes have led to an assignment of historians to discover the truth . Assigned historians discovered that Waldheim at least knew of some Nazi war crimes.
For many European nations and the United States, Waldheim became persona non grata, although some Austrians continued to claim his innocence. During his presidency, Waldheim did not visit the countries that had given him this status, as they would not have welcomed him.
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