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Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

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2nd August 2016

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

Mostar: time to restore democracy

A joint blog with the US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Maureen Cormack  It has been a frustrating couple of days.  For a moment, it seemed as though the months of discussions on the Coordination Mechanism had finally come to an end, and that BiH would be able to start making the key decisions necessary […]

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10th March 2016

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

What does the UK’s EU referendum mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina?

The date is set. On 23 June, the British public will vote on whether the UK should remain in the EU, or whether we should leave. The British Government is not neutral in this debate. Having secured an agreement to a special status for the UK, the Government has said clearly that it believes that the UK will […]

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8th February 2016

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

A recipe for economic success

A lot of people ask me why there aren’t more British businesses investing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They’re usually surprised to hear that, in fact, there are already quite a lot. Our British Business Club has over 120 corporate members, big and small. I would love to see more British companies trading here. But the […]

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27th November 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

Growth, jobs and fairness: The Reform Agenda

Wherever I go in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I try to seek out ordinary citizens, particularly young people, and to talk to them about the new EU strategy, and the Reform Agenda that has come from it. From all these conversations, one thing is very clear: most people really don’t understand what the Reform Agenda is […]

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3rd September 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

Agents of Change

I was recently asked to speak at an event about the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I was the only speaker. I was happy to be there, but to be honest I thought it was a bit odd. I’m a foreign diplomat who has lived here for a year. Why should I be better qualified […]

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18th August 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

REPUBLIKA SRPSKA. IT’S HERE TO STAY. SO CAN WE MOVE ON NOW?

During my first year here, I have been struck by just how much political energy in the RS is spent on worrying about imagined threats to its continued existence. Political speeches have little to say about the really serious problems facing ordinary people in Republika Srpska, and across BiH, with a struggling economy, high unemployment and […]

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18th June 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

Remembering Srebrenica

In the last few days, a lot of people have been expressing strong views about the planned UN resolution to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica during the terrible war of the 1990s, where all sides suffered such terrible losses, military and civilian. When the UK accepted the responsibility of drafting this […]

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9th June 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

A Magna Carta Moment

Like many things here in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the history of efforts to reform the justice sector is long and complicated. There have been important successes; there have been painful failures. There are many superb and honest judges and prosecutors in BiH, but there are also those who have betrayed the authority and trust that […]

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29th March 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

Celebrating three great English exports in 2015

In 2015, England marks two major anniversaries. It will be 800 years since the Magna Carta was sealed and 750 years since the formation of the first English parliament. Anyone who is interested in seeing the document that has been described as England’s greatest export need only visit the British Library, where not one but […]

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20th March 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

The SAA: A big step forward

On Monday, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council agreed to bring into force the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia and Herzegovina, seven years after it was originally signed. This is a big deal. For seven years, this country has been at a standstill on its European path. But now it is moving forwards again. […]

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About Edward Ferguson

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington…

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington DC in September 2018. Together with the Defence Attaché, he led the British Defence Staff (United States), a network of 1,000 people spread across 28 States. As the UK’s senior policy adviser on defence relations with the United States, he was responsible for UK-US collaboration on strategic planning, nuclear policy and programmes, trade and acquisition, and science and technology. He was the US Network’s lead on HMG’s Integrated Review and AUKUS, and the senior champion for the Race, Ethnic and Cultural Heritage Group.

Previously, he served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2014 to 2018, where he created and led a new international strategy, co-launched by the British and German Foreign Ministers, that re-energised Euro-Atlantic integration after years of stagnation while stimulating economic growth and reducing high levels of youth unemployment.

A former Exhibitioner and Choral Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, where he was also Treasurer of the Oxford Union, Edward graduated with First Class Honours in Classics in 2001. Joining the Graduate Fast Stream of the Ministry of Defence, he started out in the Naval Staff before joining the Iraq Secretariat during the build-up to and subsequent execution of Operation TELIC. In 2003, he was involved in financial and requirement scrutiny of the Department’s future helicopter procurement programme.

From 2004 to 2006, he managed a national award-winning £300-million programme to consolidate the MOD estate in Greater London and to redevelop RAF Northolt. In 2006, he volunteered for an operational tour, serving as Political Advisor to a British Battlegroup in Maysaan Province, Iraq (while his brother was a troop leader with the British Army in Basra). On his return, he took on responsibility for the strategic management of the UK’s bilateral defence relations with the United States, Canada and Western Europe.

From 2007 to 2009, he worked as Private Secretary to three Defence Secretaries, acting as their closest adviser on issues relating to operations in Iraq, the £6-billion defence equipment programme, science & technology, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy.

In 2009, he was appointed the Head of Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy, responsible for advice to the National Security Council on the policy, financial, legal, parliamentary and presentational aspects of the UK military contribution to operations in Afghanistan, and on the long-term defence role and interests in Pakistan.

From 2011 to 2014, he was Head of Defence Strategy and Priorities, leading two teams, one responsible for leading the MOD’s contribution to developing the 2015 National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the other for prioritising the MOD’s international defence engagement activities. In 2013, he graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with an MSc with Distinction in Strategy and Diplomacy. He has been a member of the RCDS Strategic Advisory Panel, a member of the US Air Force Grand Strategy Advisory Board, and is a graduate of the PINNACLE Command and Staff course.