This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative 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 Austria

12th April 2018 Vienna, Austria

“Russia and the West: a new Cold War? Who is responsible?”

If you have followed recent discussion over the case of the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury using a military grade nerve agent, you may find interesting the programme “Russia and the West: a new Cold War?  Who is responsible?” transmitted on Austrian broadcaster Puls 4 on 11 April.  In the programme (in German) I debate the background to the case with Johann Gudenus, Chief Whip of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ); Michel Reimon, an MEP of the Austrian Green party; and Ivan Rodionov, Managing Editor of RT (Russia Today) Germany.

You can see a link to the programme, broadcast in German, here. Comments welcome.

Since the programme was broadcast, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical used in the attempted assassination of Mr Skripal and his daughter. You can find the Foreign Secretary’s statement here.

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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