THE Dutch Ambassador to Estonia has resigned his post because of the racist and homophobic abuse directed at his black boyfriend.

Hans Glaubitz, who had represented his country with his Cuban partner without problems in Brazil and South Africa, demanded a transfer because Raúl García Lao could not stand living in Tallinn any longer. They arrived in the Estonian capital last September.

Mr Glaubitz said: “It is not very nice to be regularly abused by drunken skinheads as a ‘nigger’ and to be continuously gawped at as if you have just stepped out of a UFO.”

The abuse increased after a local magazine wrote that the appointment of a gay Ambassador with a black partner had to be seen as a Dutch provocation.

The US Embassy has also had problems in Tallinn, reporting that there had been nine cases of threats made to non-white members of staff.

Bernard Bot, the Dutch Foreign Minister, called his counterpart in Estonia to discuss the matter. A Dutch government spokeswoman said: “The authorities always treated them well but there was racist and homophobic abuse on the street.”

The Hague had hoped that Estonia would be ready for a mixed-race gay couple, but Mr Glaubitz said: “[Estonian] society is far from ready for two men, particularly if one of them is black.”

Mr Glaubitz met his partner while serving in Havana. He was posted to Pretoria in 1997, where the couple broadly were accepted. South Africa introduced strong anti-discrimination laws after the end of apartheid that covered racism and homophobia.

They then served in São Paulo, Brazil, where, during one royal visit, Mr Glaubitz acted as host to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Señor García Lao acted as the official host for the Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima.

Mr Glaubitz and his partner will be transferred to Montreal. It is the latest in a series of incidents that have sounded alarm bells about xenophobia and homophobia in Eastern Europe.