U.S. Diplomat: Too Many Drunks At U.N. Budget Debates

An American diplomat stationed at the United Nations is upset with his colleagues’ level of inebriation:

The United States called on Monday for a ban on drunk diplomats at budget debates at the United Nations.

“We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone,”Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly’s budget committee.

“While my government is truly grateful for the strategic opportunities presented by some recent past practices, let’s save the champagne for toasting the successful end of the session, and do some credit to the Fifth Committee’s reputation in the process,” he said.

An annual vote of the budget committee – known as theFifth Committee - on budgetary questions tends to come at Christmas time in late December. The debates often become heated marathon sessions that run into the early hours of the morning.

Diplomats who have participated sessions have told Reuters that it is not unusual to see delegates showing visible signs of having imbibed heavily.

Perhaps this explains what’s been going on in Washington, D.C. all these years.

H/T: Erika Johnson

FILED UNDER: United Nations, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. al-Ameda says:

    “We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone,”Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly’s budget committee.

    I definitely look forward to Mr. Torsella’s upcoming DUI incident.

  2. Moosebreath says:

    As Shaw wrote, alcohol “enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person wouldv do at eleven in the morning.”