Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh addressed the public on Thursday evening, broadcasting live via Twitter, to answer questions from the audience. AmmanNet covered the broadcast in both English and Arabic.

How would you explain the highly respected Taher Odwan's exit from the government and what does this mean for our media and freedom of expression?

I cannot speak on his behalf, he is obviously a member of the team and we have to respect his wishes. It is always a loss to see a member of the team leave, but we also have to respect his wishes as far as how this reflects on the overall strategy for the media and communication, the government, and I am a member of the government who is committed to seeing  his majesty the King's vision of  free media, responsible media, and to have all the laws and legislation in place to guarantee freedom of expression and objective reporting away from slander and character assassinations.  The government is committed to  press freedoms. I wish Mr. Taher Adwan, our colleague, all the best.

Does our embassy meet our expectations in terms of promoting Jordan and supporting Jordanians abroad?

They certainly meet  my expectations and the goals and objectives that I have set for myself in this position and for all our diplomats abroad, that does not mean that we can all do more. We have to be ambitious and committed and dedicated. I keep saying, that Jordan is respected worldwide because of the respect his majesty the King has and we see from his majesty's travels, how much respect there is and appreciation there is for Jordan, his majesty, and what we are doing. Our embassies have opened doors because of this and they should enter through this doors and exert every effort to ensure that Jordan is visible and that Jordanian  expatriates and  Jordanian communities across the world are well served. So I am proud of all of our diplomats, but I am also committed to doing more.

Is the intention to appoint a new ambassador to Israel a sign of improvement of its relationship with Israel?

I have not announced one way or the other, the embassy is in Tel Aviv and it is functioning. I have not announced that there will be a new appointment, however the ambassador's post is vacant and at some stage it will be filled. And this is a natural occurrence.

Jordan was negotiating with the USA regarding nuclear projects and Uranium extractions, any updates on that?

Jordan was discussing with the United States, signing a nuclear cooperation agreement, not exploration. The discussions are ongoing, some people think the delay is because of a problem. There isn't a problem, it's just taking longer than expected. We are currently still discussing the elements of this agreement.

Why are we hosting Mohammed Dahlan in Jordan? Is there is political message for the PA or Abass beyond this hosting?

There is no political message and I beg to differ with the expression "hosting" him. He, I think, comes back and forth. It's not a question of hosting him, it's a question of allowing him in or out. But there is no political message whatsoever and our relations with the Palestinian Authority are exemplary.

SmokeFree Jordan: Do you allow your staff to smoke inside the ministry and if so how would you justify the violation against our health law #47?

As a smoker trying to quit, I would like to confess that in our ministry, such is the case in many other government  and official buildings, that the smoke free environment is still an elusive goal. I hope that we will all pool our efforts together to reach that smoke free environment and to respect the law, and again I'm speaking as a smoker hoping to be reformed soon.

What happened to the rest of the Jordanians imprisoned lately in Syria? Any updates or responses from the Syrian government?

The only update that I can provide is that our staff at the foreign ministry and embassy in Damascus are following up on this file on a daily basis: every day, every hour . Just as they do with other Jordanian detainees or  prisoners elsewhere. We have managed to achieve some success, but we are still working on having the rest of our citizens released. It is a priority.

Any future plans to promote economic collaboration with our historical ally the UK?

Of course, that is an ongoing discussion. His majesty was recently in the UK where he met with Prime Minister Cameron and the Foreign Secretary, I met privately with the Foreign Secretary. I see him all the time, he has visited Jordan and I am planning to see him again soon.  I think there is always room for development of relations and development of trade and investment between the two countries. You are absolutely right in pointing that this is a friendship that goes back many decades, so we are trying our best at many levels to enhance this relationship.

Why does Jordan allow British citizens into the country free of charge and we pay an arm and a leg to get a visa to the UK?

I'm not so sure it's free of charge, but yes there is a disparity there. Not to mention the logistical difficulties that some of our Jordanian citizens face in acquiring not only British visas but other visas. We are working with embassies and our different partners in different countries to try and alleviate the situation.

What is the impact of events in Egypt and their diplomatic message in the region. Did anything change?

We are still waiting to see what transpires in Egypt: when the legislative election will be, when the presidential elections will be. Egypt is a cornerstone in our Arab World, we hope that the Egyptian people, in coordination with of course the supreme council for the armed forces,  will come back to playing the role that we always expected Egypt to play in the region, which is a pivotal role.

Will social media come back to the government of Jordan? We were the first people to implement social media and now we are falling behind with all the JCC countries getting ahead of us. Will we have another attempt to get back to leading social media?

Let me just remind, for those of you who remember, that Jordan was one of the first countries in the world to introduce internet and access to internet back in 1995, this was very, very shortly after internet was  commercially available to the rest of the world, we were pioneers. Back in '95 and '96, I remember having local BBSs (is that what they call them?) which I took part in in many previous capacities. There was an active, lively, vibrant debate. I believe that when you are talking about almost 2 million people on facebook in Jordan and tons of thousand on Twitter and people actively engaging , uploading and participating in YouTube,  we are doing okay. I don't know what you mean about coming back to the government? I think this is a prime example of how the government is interacting in social media.

We have always been a neutral country and that was great, why now is Jordan taking sides, especially in the Arab world?

I'm not sure if I am understanding the question, I don't know how we are taking sides, I don't know if we can refer to Jordan as always being neutral. Jordan's positions are always based on its national interest and on its principles. I don't think we can characterize those or put adjectives whether neutral or taking sides or any of those expressions. I think again, we have our positions that are principle and we have our views and we are a country, again, that does not interfere in the internal affairs of others, just as we don't expect others to interfere in our internal affairs.

Is there any presence of Jordanian security cooperation in Bahrain?

Jordanian-Bahraini cooperation, security cooperation, is decades old. It's not a new thing.

How will Jordan vote in September on the issue of the Palestinian state? Will it take the Saudi path?

Jordan will do whatever is  in its interests, we are not there yet so I would rather not  answer a question preemptively. I think there are efforts, now currently, underway to revive peace talks. In the last meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, in Doha, we were very clear that we welcomed the parameters that came in Obama's speech on the 19th of May and we totally reject Netanyahu's rejection of these parameters. It will take Israel's acceptance of the parameters in order to go back to negotiations, short of that in September the Arabs agreed that the UN is the only path forward, but we still have a couple of months.

How can government produce at the age one to two years max, why do we have such express governments? When will this stop?

Well there is a constitutional requirement for the formation of governments. There is also a way that which governments leave. What I think one has to look at is what his Majesty said recently, that with a creation of a political parties culture and hopefully a clear political program for each party whether its political, economic, social or otherwise  so that people can vote on that platforms rather than personal wishes, then the atmosphere will be right for a government to come representing the majority party in parliament. I think the parameters will become clearer then.

They say 50 is the new 40, do you agree?

I just want to tell you, I experienced 40 and I'm about to experience 50. I have to tell you the excitement of getting to 40 was much more than the excitement of getting to 50. I'll have to judge after getting to 50.

Are we going to bring Shaheen back?

We are certainly trying. I'm not going to comment on how he left and under what arrangements, there is an ongoing process there and I think that the  Prime Minister spoke about this at length, but whatever it takes for us here at the foreign ministry, in the portfolios that are under our mandate, will be done and has already been done.

We have seen revolutions across the Arab world, and we have seen large protests, some of them went extremely viral. In Jordan we have seen relatively small protests. Can you tell us why we have seen much smaller protests in Jordan than the rest of the Arab world?

I think I already answered that in one of my previous answers, but I'll answer it again. The reason of course is that we have a political and economic and social reform process that is spearheaded  and led by his majesty the King: it comes from the top.  I've always said that, incidentally, even before the Arab spring. In Jordan, we are blessed that the head of state sees where the mistakes are and sees where the system needs fixing and where reform needs to be pushed. He is the one who takes the initiative on that. Don't forget we are a country that has a dire economic situation. we are an importer of 96 percent of our energy. The price of oil has increased  internationally from September to last April by $50, from $75 to $125. Each one dollar increase internationally is an additional burden of $25 million on Jordan annually. So do the math, and you will see that we have a serious economic situation. Not to mention the capital of interruptions in the Egyptian gas supply which costs us 5 million dollars a day. Add to that the already unprecedented budget deficit and the high prices of food commodities. We are trying to deal with our economic situation with a forward looking vision, at the same time the needs for more expedited political forms have been A. initiated by his majesty and implemented in the time frames set and B. whenever the systems falters, as I said, it is our Majesty the  head of state who puts the system back on track. I think that is why, in Jordan, we have seen as part of the Arab Spring calls for reforms, but I think everybody is united behind our system of government, the monarchy.

With the widening rift between US administration and Saudi Arabia, how do we plan to deal with the consequences?

I don't understand what you mean. I'm  not aware of a widening rift between the US and Saudi Arabia, that is not something for me to comment on and I don't see how we come into play in this. We have our own relations , of course, with Saudi Arabia and the US.

How are foreign services employees appointed? By family name? Do you train them in local culture and how do you deal with Jordanians?

Foreign service employees are chosen, perhaps we are the only ministry, and I know we've seen some bad press on this recently, but we are the only ministry that has a process for the appointment of diplomats. They have to sit for a foreign service exam, both oral and written. They have to be personally interviewed and, unfortunately, every once in a while, we have only a few vacancies and many people apply and many people are disappointed. If you have a 150 applicants for 12 or 13 vacancies, undoubtedly you are going to have over a 100 people disappointed. There is always a chance to try again because this foreign service exam takes place at least twice year, that's on the one hand. When diplomats are appointed based on the results of these exams, and by the way there is a committee there and it's a transparent process, then they are subjected to six months of intensive training at the diplomatic institute. Once they complete that, then they join the ministry for work, for their prospective work. Two years later they have to sit for another exam to be confirmed , after two years they have to sit for another exam to confirm their places in the foreign service. So, no they are not chosen on family names, and I can assure you of that, but then again the people who apply, and I'm being very transparent here, the people who apply should not be discriminated against, whether they are the sons of former diplomats or people who have never experienced diplomatic life. So long as they are tested and so long as they pass the exams. We cannot discriminate against someone simply because their parents were diplomats. This may be to his or her advantage, but they still have to pass the test and pass a certain mark. We also should not discriminate against people just because they have not lived an environment of diplomatic life. Everybody is equal and everybody has to sit for the exam and the process is transparent and I urge people to come have a look at the process and to look at how diplomats are chosen and picked.