Paul Brummell
Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department, Communication Directorate
21st January 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was invited last week by the National Science and Arts Foundation and the Mayor of Sector 2 in Bucharest to help give out the prizes at the fifth edition of the “Om Intre Oameni” awards ceremony. The event, held on Romania’s National Cultural Day, the birth date of poet Mihai Eminescu, honoured Romanians who […]
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15th January 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A visit by the Foreign Secretary is an important moment for any Ambassador or High Commissioner, providing opportunities for working with the host government at the most senior level, and a spur to host authorities to think about the bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom and how to develop it. And so I was delighted to welcome Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond […]
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29th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
During a visit to London last month I headed to the delightfully quirky Horniman Museum at Forest Hill, where curator Fiona Kerlogue gave me a tour of the Revisiting Romania exhibition, on show since October. The exhibition offers a beautiful display of Romanian folk art, from embroidered sheepskin jackets to the intricately carved distaffs often […]
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22nd December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was back in London for a few days last month to attend a series of events focused on the export opportunities for UK companies represented by the Central European region, stretching from Poland in the north to Bulgaria in the south. The centrepiece was the High Growth Europe Showcase, organised in concert with the […]
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18th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
‘I was 3 month and 2 day old when fights for ‘Awakening Romania’ took off. I am 25 year old now. And I am very proud that the age of democratic Romania will always be the same with my age. The topic of the ’89 Revolution is very sensitive; the stories on the personal experiences […]
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17th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
‘I made my first visit on business to Romania during December 1981. It was then when I first met my future wife. Over the following year I made any excuse to visit Romania just to see her again. In fact, I made over twenty four flights from London to Bucharest. Eventually I found out that […]
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16th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
By December 1989 the situation in Romania for the population was bad. Years of erratic dictatorial rule, ever increasing privation and austerity had produced an atmosphere ripe for change. But because of the very powerful communist tyranny and repression not even the most expert and experienced diplomatic and foreign media observers foresaw the sudden overthrow […]
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15th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Continued from 12 December Friday, December 22nd, Alecu Russo Diplomatic quarters 08.00 am Eleanor had not yet turned up. I was finishing breakfast and wondering in the quietness of morning whether it was all over. Had the police/soldiers and all the apparatus of the Police State finished the job last night, and cleared all the […]
Read more on Romanian Revolution through British Eyes/ Bernard Marshall: ‘Two days of the Romanian Christmas Revolution in December 1989’ (Chapter II) | Reply (1)
12th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
‘December 21st – 10.30 am on Palace Square, Bucharest “Please move back “, said the tall Securitate official. Three diplomats moved back a few steps onto the now empty square. “I asked you to move – please move back “, he ordered again – in surprisingly refined and clear English. He was wearing a long […]
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11th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The calm before December 1989 is as memorable to me as experiencing the revolution itself. Roll back a year to November 1988 and my arrival in a city blanketed by ice, snow and grey slush. More horse and carts on the airport road than cars and an introduction to faded and frozen communist grandeur through […]
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