Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of16th October 2012
It’s after midnight on a Friday and I’m waiting at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport to meet FCO Europe Minister David Lidington off a late flight from London. The airport is packed with people as passengers pour into a city which for over 2,000 years has been a crossroads between Europe and Asia. One of the first […]
11th October 2012
A guest blog by Louise Taylor, EU Political Officer, British Embassy Ankara, Turkey. The tragic deaths of a mother and her children in the town of Akçakale last week has highlighted the extent to which Turkey is at the top of many important areas of the international agenda. This week all eyes are on Brussels […]
4th October 2012
$56 billion of infrastructural investment opportunities. New airports, bridges, motorways, ports and healthcare opportunities running up to 2023. Top-level political support from the British and Turkish Governments. All this is the background to this week’s visit to Turkey by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business and Enterprise Minister Michael Fallon, accompanied by a top-level […]
27th September 2012
One after another, top British companies take the podium in a room full of Turkish construction companies. Each sets out world-class expertise in everything from design, construction and communications to steel, advanced engineering, security, training and sports services. Other speakers include the British Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Keith Allan; Sefa Gomdeniz, Chair of the Turkey-Turkmenistan Business Council; […]
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2nd July 2012
I arrived in Kyiv on 14 June 2008 in a rainstorm and saw Paul McCartney perform in Independence Square. I leave today having seen Elton John and Queen on 30 June in Independence Square; and Kyiv throbbing to the excitement of a classic European Championship final between Spain and Italy on 1 July. I’d like […]
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27th June 2012
A tall tree shades the audience from the sun. An orchestra and choir wait in silence. A huge derelict building, windows broken and decorated with (fake) radiation warning signs, towers over us. The conductor raises his baton and exquisite baroque music rings out. I am at “Master Klass”, a cultural centre and language school in […]
19th June 2012
The table is set for a banquet. Dozens of glasses are lined up, interspersed with samovars and accordions. Around, in the darkness, thousands of faces look on. But no one will ever eat or drink. I’m in the Remembrance Hall at the Museum of the “Great Patriotic War” in Kyiv. The Museum, located under the […]
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12th June 2012
“So, you’re an England fan?” “Yes.” “Where are you from?” “We are Russian.” The presence of significant numbers of Russian fans wearing England team colours and apparently supporting England was one of the more unexpected elements of the visit to Donetsk by our consular team and myself in the run-up of the England’s EURO 2012 […]
8th June 2012
On the steep cobbled slope, stalls display Ukrainian souvenirs to curious visitors. In the distance, a river glistens. On a terrace overlooking picturesque 19thC buildings, tourists tuck into tasty steaks and sup cold beer. As a big fan of Kyiv I was pleased to see the much-discussed renovation of Andriyivskyy Uzviz, the winding street in […]
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1st June 2012
How will beach volleyball affect the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London this summer? What are the parallels, and differences, between London 2012 and Euro 2012 in Ukraine? You can find answers to these and other questions about the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and about the Euro 2012 football championship, in a short TV […]
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