8th November 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am off to London to participate in a week of events selling the opportunity for British business that Emerging Europe represents. Let me begin by defining Emerging Europe. At its core are nine markets, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, which together make up the Foreign Office’s Central European […]
26th October 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Our Minister for Europe David Lidington was in town this week for discussions with Polish Ministers, commentators and representatives of British business. It was an excellent opportunity to challenge some of the assertions in the local media regarding the UK’s disengagement from the EU and our attitude towards Structural and Cohesion Funds for Poland. On […]
22nd October 2012 Dublin, Ireland
The last week has shown the many facets of our bilateral relationship. It began with an excellent seminar on reducing regulation, which we co-hosted with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economy and the Prime Minister’s office. We exchanged experiences with Polish Ministers and experts and agreed that deregulation and reducing burdens on business […]
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9th October 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am just back from London,where I hosted a Poland/Romania/UK rail for growth event. Both the Polish and Romanian delegations were led by Ministers and included government representatives and rail industry experts. Both countries saw similar key challenges and opportunities in areas like safety, project management and funding future investment, for example the use of […]
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19th September 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am delighted to announce that Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Minister Philip Hammond are visiting Warsaw today. This is the latest high level visit by UK Ministers to Poland. They will discuss a range of issues with Foreign Minister Sikorski and Defence Minister Siemoniak. These will include the Future of Europe and the […]
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17th September 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am just back from leave and want to congratulate Poland’s magnificent paralympians on their fantastic achievement in winning 36 medals, including 14 golds. Just like the Team GB, the team exceeded expectations. I know that the London atmosphere of packed stadia full of passionate sports fans brought the very best out of every member of the […]
30th August 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am just about to go on leave out of Poland. One of the things I plan to do is watch lots of the Paralympics live on TV. One of my best experiences thus far was the farewell ceremony for the Polish Paralympics team last Friday. They are a fantastic bunch of dedicated athletes, who are gunning […]
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24th August 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Like many of you I suspect, I spent most of my spare time during the Olympics glued to the TV watching some extraordinary sport. Who could fail to admire performers like Mo Farah, Michael Phelps or David Rudisha? 29 gold medals for Team GB and third place in the medal table was a great feeling […]
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30th July 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Olympics opening day began early! I was at Polish Radio at 0700, fortified only by a double espresso. The toughest question by far: “Can you explain the rules of cricket?” I noted that it was the only game which could last two hours or five days and included a tea interval. But I am already […]
23rd July 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Sorry to have been off the air but I spent much of last week visiting Budapest and Bucharest in my role as Director of the Central European Network, which brings together nine Embassies in Central Europe. It was fascinating to compare the situation in Poland with the situations elsewhere in the area. There are many […]