The strangest gifts in the history of diplomacy

• The strangest gifts in diplomatic history

Today, the tradition to present diplomatic gifts has become a kind of contest. Diplomats and heads of state show the wonders of ingenuity, trying to outdo each other in unique and unusual gifts prepodnosimye them. That just does not give: live animals, books, DVD-drives, and Elizabeth II once presented your iPod recordings of Broadway songs.

But there were even more unusual offerings:

In 1990, George W. Bush received a gift from the Government of Indonesia Komodo dragon, it was one of the largest lizards in the Western Hemisphere. Despite the historical value of the animal, Bush was forced to give him to the zoo in Cincinnati. The zoo lizard has grown to 130 kilograms, 30 of his cubs were donated by different zoos of the country. In Indonesia, the lizards are considered a national treasure for its ability to handle prey twice the size than the monitor (for example, deer or buffalo).

In 2009, George W. Bush was presented with lamb meat. During his two terms as president, Bush and his family received the order of thousands of gifts per month. Everyone knows that Bush is a true Texan passionate about meat, so the Argentine President presented him with 130 kg of meat lambs. It is unlikely that this meat fell on the table to the president, as the Security Service would not allow this, but the gesture was appreciated by the younger Bush appreciated.

In the same 2009, a new President of the United States Barack Obama has received a gift of olive oil. Bottle of oil prepodnos him president of the Palestinian Authority. A gift worth about $ 75 and was one of the cheapest of gifts received by the President of the United States. It is not known whether the president tried to this oil, but it was undoubtedly the most bizarre gift to the head of state.

After years of increasing tension in relations between the US and Russia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Lavrov. To little to defuse the situation, at the beginning of the meeting Lavrov, Hillary gave a yellow box with a red button, signed the words "reset" and "reset". All this is very amused reporters present at the meeting. Unfortunately, to defuse the international situation could not last long.

In 2010, Vladimir Putin gave the puppy. As you know, this is not news to the world leaders - receive a gift of live animals. Ten-Bulgarian Shepherd puppy named Jeløya Vladimir Vladimirovich received as a gift from the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov. Perhaps this is one of the sweetest dogs, who were present in modern diplomacy. Rumor has it that his black Labrador Putin also received as a gift, and even a tiger, which was sent to a wildlife sanctuary.

Everyone knows that it was difficult to talk about any diplomacy between the US and Iran in the past few decades. US military supervision of Iran has become more closely, and has increased the number of US aircraft-drones in Iranian sky. During a meeting with Russian officials, Iranian armed forces presented the model of the drone, alluding to the fact that a few months ago they were able to knock down one of the American aircraft. Today, a smaller copy of this model can be found in Iranian toy stores.

One of the most bizarre and disturbing gifts prepodneson Donald Rumsfeld was by none other than Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi president. In his memoirs, released in 2011, Rumsfeld recalled how at a meeting in 1983, Hussein prepodnos him a three-minute video showing the Syrian military and little boys, bite off the snake's head and cutting the puppies, while in the background laughing Syrian dictator Hafez al -Asad.

During a visit to the Northern Territory of Australia in November 2011, Barack Obama received a gift from Prime Minister Paul Henderson insurance for 50 thousand dollars, in case the guard suddenly blundered. It looks strange, but knowing that in this part of the country are found the biggest crocodile in Australia, it's hard to blame Henderson in an abundance of caution. Obama happily accepted an insurance policy, noting that, being engaged in the reform of the US health care system, he somehow lost sight of the insurance from the attack of crocodiles.

The Chinese have more than a thousand years, give political leaders live pandas. Only from 1958 to 1982, they gave 23 pandas dignitaries from different countries. In 1972, US President Richard Nixon became the owner of two adorable bears Ling-Ling and Hing Hing. In response, he gave China a couple of buffalo.

2013 was really not easy for the French. Sharply falling economy, scandals, and more and camel, presented by President François Hollande, came to the dinner table. After sending French troops in Mali to fight Islamist rebels who seized the north of the country, Malian officials have decided to thank Hollande. Exotic animal seemed to them the best gift. However, the relationship of a camel with the new owner did not exist. In the end, Hollande gave his family from Timbuktu, in which he made from the stew for dinner.