This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

18th July 2011

Britain and Ukraine – Partners for Reform

Who said the following?

– “Ukraine knows that it can count on Britain as its friend in the European Union.  We are, and will remain, enthusiastic advocates of Ukraine’s closer integration with the rest of Europe”; and

– “It is the responsibility of true friends to speak honestly when they see something which concerns them”.

The answer is the Foreign Office Minister for Europe, David Lidington, in an important speech delivered in London on 13 July: “Britain and Ukraine – Partners for Reform”.  The full text is here.  Check it out: a good read with some important messages on the importance of Ukraine; the business climate; the risks to Ukraine’s reputation as the standard-bearer for democracy; and how the UK sees the way forward, including its continued support for Ukraine’s European integration.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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britain eartern eu neighbourhood policy Politics reform Ukraine

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