I’ve been away from Budapest for the last two weeks.
For the first time I went back to London to the annual gathering of all British Ambassadors from around the world. It was my first time there and so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the week was really good. The PM, Chancellor and Home Secretary spoke to us, as well as the Foreign Secretary. They were very complimentary about our work – while asking us to contribute even more to Britain’s prosperity and security this year. The week was a great chance to meet up with other British Ambassadors from around Europe and the world too. To swap notes on what had been working well for us and what had gone less well. Just 2 month into my tour here it was a really good chance to take a step back and think a little about my experiences so far, chat about them to others and start to plan for the future. I’ll share more with you about that in later blogs.
The second week (or at least most of it) I spent on a lecture course about NATO and the challenges it faces today. The defence element of my portfolio here in Budapest is the one I’m least experienced in and I wanted to address that. Hungary is an important military ally for the UK, not least because of the very active role it plays in providing troops for NATO operations. And I wanted to make sure I was in a good position to help encourage that relationship. So I spent several days in the company of officials, generals and academics chewing over the issues of the day round the world. We discussed NATO’s organisational challenges, its role in conflict situations now and possible scenarios for the future. It was pretty intense but a real boost for me. And I’m now confident I can hold my own on most strategic defence issues. We’ll see.
It was great to come back, though, to warm and sunny Budapest. And to get back into the Hungarian and EU issues which dominate my time here. Budapest feels like home now. I have to admit, though, that trapping my finger in a door on Friday took the edge off my joy at returning. But at least I was able to impress my young daughter by telling her that I didn’t cry.