Sian MacLeod

Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

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UK in Serbia

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12th June 2023 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

A Belgrade Diplomatic Fantasy

As a diplomat living or working in a historic building you find yourself thinking about the people who occupied the same physical and professional space before you. This is natural curiosity, interest in historic events and a wish to understand past relationships that underpin present day ones. I hope the Financial Times will forgive me […]

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5th June 2023 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Dear Serbia

Dear Serbia, I first arrived in Belgrade in the mid-1980s by train as a student with a small tent. I caught a number 53 bus to the campsite that used to next to the ‘Kamp Košutnjak’ café. Had I known then what the future held for me, I could have looked across the valley to the […]

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25th April 2023 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Challenges, risks and threats

Slovyansk in 2017

On 24 February 2022 the world watched with horror and disbelief as Vladimir Putin had launched his illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Many people including in Serbia did not to believe or want to believe that Moscow would take such a reckless step, particularly against another Slavic nation with many historic, family and cultural ties […]

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20th February 2023 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Ukraine one year on: look back in anger

Kurir OpEd - 22 Feb 2023

On 24 February 2022 the world watched with horror and disbelief as Vladimir Putin launched a full scale, illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. One year on that horror and disbelief is mixed with anger and sorrow. At the senseless loss of tens of thousands of lives – Ukrainian and Russian. At the callous disregard […]

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17th November 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Wisdom, Trust and Remembrance

Remembrance

Citizens look to their national leaders to govern responsibly and in the interests of their country. They hope that leaders will be blessed with wisdom and good judgement, and that they will exercise their authority responsibility.  In return, leaders earn the trust of the people they govern. In democratic societies people are free to make […]

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4th July 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Displacement and destitution – the global consequences of Russia’s invasion

The numbers are growing.  Some 13 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. More than 5 million are still outside the country. Over 6 million people remain displaced within Ukraine.  These are ordinary people, children and adults, citizens of a European country that is a close friend and ally of both Serbia and the UK.  A few […]

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6th June 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

Russia’s war in words and numbers

What is happening in Ukraine can be no less shocking to people in Serbia than to people in Canada, Norway, Poland, the UK – or anywhere else including Russia, when and where the truth is known. Deliberate disinformation has been rife and multifaceted – from mundane lies (no intention of invading Ukraine) to fantasy fiction […]

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24th May 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

History revision

History

I am a diplomat not a historian. But as a diplomat you cannot escape or ignore history – and nor should you want to. It is desperately sad to see a country with a rich heritage being trapped by a re-imagined history rather than addressing present needs and future opportunities. Chatting over dinner about 15 […]

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30th April 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

The multilayered world of (dis)information

disinformation

Disinformation has become one of the defining words of our age. It is not a new phenomenon. But its present scale is unprecedented, helped by round the clock broadcasting and social media. There is a shorter word for it: lies. But ‘disinformation’ perhaps better conveys the sense of deliberate corrupting of the media environment with […]

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19th April 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

Former UK Ambassador to Serbia

This is What Human Tragedy Looks Like

We Stand With Ukraine

This joint article by Ambassadors Rafal Perl (Poland), Giles Norman (Canada) and Sian MacLeod (UK) first appeared in Serbian in ‘Nedeljnik’ on 14 April 2022. This week Protestant and Catholic churches around the world mark the darkest, most solemn days in the Christian year followed by celebration of Easter and hope for the future.  Next […]

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About Sian MacLeod

Sian Macleod was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia in September 2019. Prior to this, Sian was Ambassador and Head of the UK Delegation to the Organization…

Sian Macleod was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia in September 2019. Prior to this, Sian was Ambassador and Head of the UK Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Sian joined the FCO in 1986. Her first posting was to Moscow. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, she served briefly in the Embassy in Vilnius. Since then she has been posted to The Hague, returned to Moscow 2004-7, where she became Minister (Deputy Head of Mission). Between overseas postings she has worked in the FCO and the Cabinet Office.

Sian was Ambassador in Prague from 2009 to 2013 and then Director of the British Council Triennial Review and FCO Additional Director for the Eastern European & Central Asian Directorate.

Sian is married to Richard Robinson and they have three children and enjoy music, cycling and cross-country skiing.

Before joining the FCO she studied music at the Winchester School of Art and the Royal Academy of Music.