Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

25th February 2015 Canberra, Australia

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by Tony Brennan

Deputy High Commissioner

Keeping the ship afloat

Regular readers of this blog will know that High Commissioner Paul Madden has now left Australia. His successor will arrive here in April, meaning that I, as Deputy High Commissioner, get to spend a couple of months rejoicing in the title of “Chargé d’Affaires ad interim”. My aim in this period is to ensure that […]

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24th February 2015

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by Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

The case for NATO

Last week I got back from NATO Headquarters in Brussels. In January, the UK took over from Turkey as the lead NATO Embassy here in Sarajevo, so I went to learn about NATO’s priorities and challenges in our fast-changing and increasingly complex world. There’s a lot on NATO’s plate as it configures itself to respond […]

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23rd February 2015

Paul Brummell, British Ambassador to Romania

by Paul Brummell

Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department, Communication Directorate

Britain and Romania: A partnership between friends

20 February 2015 marks the 135th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Romania. There have been numerous friendships forged during this period. Britons closely involved in the politics of the emerging independent state of Romania in the nineteenth century included the remarkable Maria Rosetti, born Marie Grant, the wife […]

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23rd February 2015 Paris, France

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by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

The Global Law Summit and the legacy of the Magna Carta

Global Law Summit 2015

This year of 2015, we celebrate the 800th anniversary of one of the founding documents of English law, the Magna Carta. This was agreed between King John and his rebel barons in 1215. And actually one of the prominent barons at that time was Prince Louis, who went on to be King Louis VIII of […]

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22nd February 2015

by Peter Tibber

Ambassador to Colombia

50th Anniversary of the State Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Sudan

– Guest blog by Hala Elhaj, Media Officer at the British Embassy in Khartoum –  This month marks the 50th anniversary of the state visit of Queen Elizabeth to Sudan. On the 8th February 1965 Queen Elizabeth landed in Khartoum. She arrived at a time of great political tensions yet despite this Sudan gave Her […]

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20th February 2015 Brasilia, Brazil

by Thais Nogueira

Political Assistant

Statistics, penguins and proud people

On 23 Jan I started a (long) journey to the South Atlantic. More specifically, the Falkland Islands. There I spent a week with Brazilian academics from Rio, Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Foz do Iguaçu learning about the Islands’ political system, economy, education, development plans, science and research opportunities, but also got to know the friendly […]

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20th February 2015

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by Leigh Turner

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

UK and Turkey: doing good business

Next week promises to be a big week for UK-Turkish trade and investment. Lord Livingston, the British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, will visit Turkey from 22-25 February.  The Minister will open a GREAT Technology event; hold formal high-level talks with Trade Minister Zeybekci; meet British investors in Turkey, and Turkish investors in […]

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