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

28th June 2018 Vienna, Austria

Austrian EU Presidency: Service Announcement

A medium-sized1 EU country takes on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during a busy period in Europe.  In addition to Brexit, migration and asylum policy are at the forefront, along with tense long-term EU budget negotiations.  Although people in this country are famously modest, everyone knows that they have run two successful presidencies before – in 1998 and 2006 – and everyone is confident that the Presidency will be professional and effective.

The country is, of course, Austria.

Here at the British Embassy we are looking forward to the Austrian Presidency.  I have just returned from a visit to London to discuss what Austria has planned, including its priority of “A Europe that protects: based on the reinforcement of the principle of subsidiarity”.  We are anticipating many visitors from London, including both officials and political figures.  We look forward to working with our Austrian friends and colleagues over the months ahead as they host over 300 events here in Austria.

Here at the Embassy we have strengthened our (already strong) team for the period of the Austrian Presidency.  You can contact Presidency Liaison Officers Karen and Jakob in our beefed-up team on the following e-mail: ukemb.atpres18@fco.gov.uk

1Austria is the 15th largest of the 28 EU member states by population; 14th in area; and 10th by GDP.

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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