Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of26th July 2010
There’s sometimes an inverse relationship between the quality of an experience you’re undergoing and your ability to photograph it. Especially when the experience involves scrambling up a ladder inside the arm of a giant statue; squeezing through a trapdoor; then sticking your head out of the top of a stainless steel shield far above the […]
7th July 2010
Is there a risk of an upsurge in censorship in Ukraine? If there is, what can Ukrainians do about it? And what if anything should outsiders such as foreign governments and diplomats be doing? These are all questions which come up when I host a lunch at the Residence for Ukrainian journalists and media activists. […]
9th June 2010
What’s the toughest thing you can do to a Ukrainian student sitting an important English oral exam? How about bringing in the British ambassador to watch your conversational efforts, together with the head of the training institute and a photographer? That’s what happens when I visit the Kharkiv Aviation University and am shown round the […]
24th February 2010
It’s a fine winter’s day in Kyiv and I’m sitting down for a meeting with a couple of prominent business people on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Yanukovych. The business folk explain the immense economic potential of Ukraine as an energy and mineral producer, transit country, agricultural powerhouse and home to millions of […]
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18th February 2010
A guest blog by Svitlana Yavorska, Head of Projects Section, British Embassy Kyiv Breaking racial and ethnic stereotyping is vital in every country. So it was good to attend a press conference this week to mark the completion of a project funded by the Embassy to help Ukraine’s police forces, or militia, reach European best […]
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12th February 2010
I wrote a couple of blogs last week anticipating the Ukrainian presidential election. The first, Ukrainian election: best and worst outcomes noted that the best possible outcome of the election would be that: “the elections are recognised by the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission as being to a good standard; both sides accept the outcome; and the […]
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5th February 2010
As Ukraine moves closer to the decisive second round of the presidential election on 7 February the words of the European Commission after the first round might seem a distant memory. In a statement on 18 January, the Commission welcomed the fact that the first round of the elections on 17 January “took place in […]
Read more on More good news about electoral fraud – Dr Pangloss speaks? | Reply
4th February 2010
What are the best and the worst possible outcomes of the Feb. 7 Ukrainian presidential election? The best is pretty clear. This is that the elections are recognized by the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission as being to a good standard; both sides accept the outcome; and the winner takes over as president. Countries around the world […]
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22nd January 2010
My first ever blog entry last April noted my efforts not to be discouraged when I attempted to speak Ukrainian and people burst out laughing. In a later entry, I noted learning the invaluable phrases “I completely agree”, “I share your opinion”, and “You’re totally wrong”. Last week I made some new MP3 files of […]
20th January 2010
Tuesday night at the residence and another great British export to promote. We’re here with a group of students, education experts and business people to mark the launch of the EdinburghBusinessSchool’s MBA programme in Ukraine. It’s always great to meet students, and this is no exception: the inaugural group includes lawyers, bankers, business people and […]