In August I arrived in a new country, new city, new home and new job. For diplomats moving is familiar but still brings upheaval.
I remember my trepidation over 25 years ago at Helsinki station waiting for the train to Moscow and the start of my diplomatic career. I had little idea of the world behind the Iron Curtain of diplomatic life. But when my train arrived in Moscow to bright sunshine and pristine snow, I fell in love at first sight both with that great, historic city and the diplomatic service that I had fallen into more or less by chance.
I have served in cities as rich in culture as in political history and worked on some of the burning issues of our age. I have met extraordinary people, seen extraordinary places – and history in the making.
Each posting is different. Vienna, with its iconic status in the history of diplomacy, will bring new experiences. Not Moscow’s gleaming domes and ice encrusted pavements, Prague’s winding, medieval alleys, or The Hague’s sea breeze. But I have already cycled through the Hofburg’s monumental gates, and heard a Mozart Mass at the Augustinerkirche – early reminders of the immense privilege it is to serve here.
Modern diplomatic work is hugely varied. As Ambassador in Prague my working day could include, say, discussing EU finance, promoting British luxury goods and playing beach volleyball with Paralympians.
The next four years will be very different as Ambassador/Head of UK Delegation to the 57 state Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (The UK has two Ambassadors in Vienna: Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque is our Ambassador to Austria and UN related bodies.) Ukraine will be my top priority. The OSCE is at the forefront of efforts to restore peace following Russia’s illegal Crimean annexation and military incursion.
In the coming months I’ll write about the OSCE, its three ‘baskets’- security, human rights and economic/environmental issues, and perhaps Viennese diplomatic life. (Old hands say that it is all about relationships. In other words, diplomacy without frills.)
I look forward to getting to know and love Austria. Good diplomacy requires a clear head and sense of perspective. I can imagine no better recipe for both than heading for the mountains and lakes as often as work allows.
Photo credit: Alex Hammond