Diplomat
29th September 2011
I was surprised and very touched to be presented today with a annual Prize for an Outstanding Contribution to the Cause of Women’s Equality by the Association for Women’s Career Development in Hungary. The prize is given to those who the Association sees as most actively promoting the issue of gender equality. Because I was […]
27th September 2011
Some weeks ago I wrote about several of my colleagues’ swimming accomplishments at Lake Valence. Now, inspired by the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, they have been entering foot and cycling races too. On 4 September, 3 colleagues competed in the Budapest half-marathon. One male colleague ran alone, and two other female colleagues ran in […]
24th September 2011
Many important 20th anniversaries have been marked in Central and Eastern Europe recently. But so far no one has recalled that it is 20 years since the British Embassy in Budapest staged Alan Bennett’s “Habeas Corpus” to an ecstatic local audience. At that time there was a dearth of Englsh language theatre in Hungary. The […]
23rd September 2011
Our Foreign Secretary has just written to thank Foreign Minister Martonyi for the outstanding help provided by the Hungarian Embassy in Tripoli over the past few tumultuous weeks. During this time, the Embassy has provided vital help and support to nationals from the UK and other EU countries – travel documents, practical advice and liaison […]
22nd September 2011
I was in the Pauline-Carmelite Monastery at Sopronfalva this morning. Lovingly and beautifully restored through the vision of Gabor Kovacs (KOGART), it is now a hotel, conference facility and meditation centre. It’s an excellent example of how a cultural heritage conservation project can be integrated into a local community. But today the monastery was the […]
15th September 2011
Today is International Day of Democracy. In the UK we believe that democracy rests on respect for every individual in society, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other status. In fact this forms an indivisible part of our foreign policy. Through the work of the FCO we support not only electoral processes but […]
8th September 2011
This morning I looked up at our Paralympic countdown clock, which is attached to the front of our Embassy, and realised that it is less than a year to the start of the biggest parasport event in the world. Today the UK hosts International Paralympic Day for the first time in Trafalgar Square in London; […]
8th September 2011
The last one was agreed in 1977, in very different circumstances. This morning I signed a Double Taxation Treaty between the UK and Hungary, on behalf of the British Government. Why is that important? Several reasons. It protects against the risk of double taxation where the same income is taxable in either of our countries […]
6th September 2011
Last week I visited the House of Glass, close to the Embassy. It contains a small museum, to the memory of Carl Lutz. He was a Swiss diplomat and – like his Swedish counterpart Raoul Wallenberg [link] – saved many Jews in Budapest during the Second World War from the Nazis by providing them with […]
14th August 2011
The online version of Nepszabsag, one of Hungary’s broadsheets, want to do a video interview with me. The journalist is the same one who interviewed me a couple of years ago when we launched a “Music Against Racism” initiative at the Festival – it is still going strong, now with a Hungarian coordinator. The interview […]