Relationship dossier
Ecuador
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
Trade cooperation coexists with lasting strain over Julian Assange’s asylum and arrest
Ecuador toward United Kingdom
-5Ecuador granted Julian Assange asylum in its London embassy in 2012, a decision opposed by the United Kingdom. Ecuador ended the asylum in 2019 and permitted British police to arrest him. Ecuador also participated in the 2019 trade continuity agreement with the United Kingdom.
United Kingdom toward Ecuador
-5The United Kingdom opposed Ecuador’s grant of asylum to Julian Assange and refused him safe passage from the Ecuadorian embassy. After Ecuador ended the asylum in 2019, British police arrested Assange. The United Kingdom also concluded a trade continuity agreement with Ecuador in 2019.
Overall relationship
0The bilateral relationship combines a concrete trade framework with a major diplomatic dispute over Julian Assange’s asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy and his eventual arrest. These features indicate mixed ties rather than a sustained close partnership or broad confrontation.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Ecuador and the United Kingdom maintain a bilateral trade framework, including a continuity agreement signed in 2019. Relations were sharply strained by Ecuador’s grant of asylum to Julian Assange in its London embassy and the United Kingdom’s opposition to his safe passage. Ecuador ended the asylum in 2019, after which British police arrested Assange. The trade arrangement and the Assange dispute point to a mixed relationship.
Areas of tension
- Ecuador’s grant of asylum to Julian Assange and the United Kingdom’s refusal to grant him safe passage from the Ecuadorian embassy.
Key developments
Ecuador granted Julian Assange asylum in its London embassy.
The United Kingdom and Ecuador signed a trade continuity agreement.
Ecuador ended Assange’s asylum; British police arrested him at the embassy.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral cooperation beyond the trade framework are unclear.
- The present status and diplomatic effects of the Assange-related dispute are unclear.