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26th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Scottish soft power
252 years after the birth of Robert Burns – voted in a 2009 poll the greatest Scot of all time – I attend two very different events on a snowy Kyiv evening to mark Burns night. At the Gergel School in Pechersk, dozens of children of all ages in tartan-themed best clothes are celebrating in […]
25th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Scottish Romantic celebrated in Romania
Today, 25 January, Scots around the world mark the birthday of Scotland’s greatest poet, Robert Burns. And not just Scots. Robert Burns is a poet with universal appeal. Like Romania’s national poet Mihai Eminescu, Burns was a Romantic whose poems describe experiences that we all share, and which have been translated into many different languages. […]
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24th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Is Ukraine free?
Which is the country which is most free in the CIS? Can we say confidently that it is Ukraine? Or how about a new pretender to that crown – Moldova? There are many ways to measure freedom, some more objective than others. As I noted in a recent blog on human rights, one can often […]
24th January 2011 Ottawa, Canada
Our First British High Commission Science Salon with Special Guest: Dr. David Strangway!
One week ago today we had our inaugural Science Salon event! What is a Science Salon you ask? Well imagine trying to channel Bohemian France, with it’s parlours and poets and artists, into a science themed event, and there you have it – A Science Salon! The goal of these events is to bring people […]
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21st January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why the Constitutional Court matters
In a recent blog on human rights in Ukraine I noted that the British embassy in Kyiv had supported projects to help a number of different constituent elements of the Ukrainian legal system including the Constitutional Court. So I was delighted to have a chance recently to visit the Constitutional Court, and to meet the […]
21st January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
New geothermal potential: from spas to energy
The British Government aims to be the “greenest ever”. So it is no surprise that in recent official meetings – and we have many more visitors to Budapest than usual as a result of Hungary’s EU Presidency – UK Ministers and officials have raised the subject of renewable energy and Hungary’s geothermal potential. Thermal waters […]
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20th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Swimming with icebergs
A guest blog from John Foreman, Defence Attache, British Embassy 19 January is Epiphany, an ancient Christian feast day which, in the Orthodox tradition, celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The people of Ukraine, as elsewhere in the region, celebrate this event by jumping into the cold waters […]
20th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Transferring Know How
In my previous posting, I mentioned the informal meeting of European Union EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) Ministers here earlier this week at the newly renovated Grassalkovich Royal Palace in Gödöllő. Discussion revolved around the question of what can be done to create jobs at a time of economic downturn. Earlier meetings […]
19th January 2011 Ottawa, Canada
Project planning and Claire’s farewells as she moves over to the MPA team
It is with great sadness that we, in the Canadian Science & Innovation team, say goodbye to another of our teammates, Claire Hastings, at the British Consulate Toronto. Claire is leaving our team, but not the Consulate, so although we expect to have lots of dealings with her – she will no longer have a direct hand in the S&I plots. Claire […]
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19th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Promoting British business in Ukraine
Promoting British business in Ukraine is one of the top priorities of our embassy in Kyiv. We are regularly in contact with companies and government on every aspect of business activity, from advising companies who are considering starting up in Ukraine, through engaging with the government on specific issues, to lobbying on how to improve […]