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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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12th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Antarctic Treaty Meeting in Tasmania
Speaking at the opening of the 35th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ACTM) in Hobart, Tasmania, former PM Bob Hawke was passionate as he described his role in helping secure the 1989 Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection. The meeting brings together 49 signatory nations, of which 28 are “consultative parties” which, like Britain, carry out research […]
11th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Diamond Jubilee and a cup of tea on the road to Axum
Last week we joined friends and contacts from the Addis Ababa community (including from tour operators and travel companies through whom we would be in touch with British visitors in a crisis) on the Residence lawn for tea and Victoria sponge cake to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. And despite the odd rumble […]
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11th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Forced Marriage Made Illegal
In his 2011 message for World Peace Day, Pope Benedict emphasised the role of the family as “the school of freedom of peace”, the bedrock of our social fabric. His Holiness added that the family founded on marriage was “the expression of the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman”. The practice […]
11th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Jubileul de Diamant al Reginei Elisabeta a II-a – Mesajul Ambasadorului
Astăzi organizăm o serie de evenimente în București dedicate sărbătoririi a 60 de ani de domnie a Majestății Sale Regina Elisabeta a II-a a Regatului Unit al Marii Britanii și Irlandei de Nord. Se întâmplă doar a doua oară în istorie când un suveran britanic sărbătorește un Jubileu de Diamant și sunt bucuros că pot […]
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11th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
God Save The Queen!
Today we are holding a series of events here in Bucharest to mark the 60th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is only the second time in our long history that the British sovereign has celebrated a […]
10th June 2012 Budapest, Hungary
Hot in the city
I’ve completed a 7 km run in the heat of a sunny, summer Budapest today. I’m exhausted. I did it as part of an Embassy team: six of us running in relay and so completing a marathon between us. Our aim was to help the Robert Burns International Foundation (RBIF) raise money to buy a […]
8th June 2012 Toronto, Canada
UK Creative Industries KTN visits Montreal
Before his visit to Toronto, UK Creative Industries KTN deputy director Jeremy Davenport was hanging out in Montréal with Science and Innovation Officer Nicolina Farella. Here’s Nicolina’s take on the visit, republished with permission from the UK CI-KTN blog: “Montreal is a creative city”…Have you heard this claim before? Well, Montreal is recognised worldwide for […]
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8th June 2012 Guatemala City, Guatemala
2012 is a GREAT year for the UK and Guatemala
“Guatemala is important to the UK”. Not my words but those of Jeremy Browne, the UK’s Minister for Latin America, after he met his Guatemalan counterpart, Carlos Raúl Morales, in London on 7 June. I of course wholeheartedly agree, and Jeremy Browne’s statement goes on to describe how the UK’s relations with Guatemala have gone […]
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8th June 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Time for non football fans to take a holiday
Euro2012 fever is upon us. I am writing this from Krakow, where a large and enthusiastic crowd is watching the England team’s open training session at the Hutnik stadium in Nowa Huta. They are great Ambassadors for their country. It is a far cry from my first visit here in 1983 during John Paul II’s […]
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8th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Axle weights and Andriyivskyy Uzviz
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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