Tag: Ambassador Jonathan Allen
11th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
As British Ambassador I am asked almost as often by Bulgarians what I say about their country to investors, as I am asked by investors what I think about Bulgaria. I answer the same to both: a wonderful country, with real potential and excellent people, but some big problems, particularly in the rule of law […]
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11th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Europe is surrounded by an “arc of instability”, in the words of Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary. Bulgaria, responsible for one of the EU’s key external borders, and on the land route to Syria, is in a key position. It is vital that we, Bulgaria’s allies, step up our support. It is just as […]
Read more on Increasing Our Security in an Increasingly Insecure World | Reply
4th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On a Saturday evening in June 2012, as my wife and I stood in our kitchen, the peace was shattered (literally) by a bottle thrown from the street, which broke our window. It was quite a shock. A man was arrested, spent a night in a police cell and has now been fined 1000 BGN. […]
Read more on Why We Should Celebrate the Freedom to Be Ourselves | Reply (1)
30th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In recent weeks, I have walked into three very different sorts of buildings and had three very different sets of reactions. With Labour Day approaching, this has got me wondering: are buildings designed to have an impact on those that work in them, those that visit them, or both? Do people behave differently in a […]
Read more on The Architecture of How We Work | Reply
28th April 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Tsar Liberator faces the National Assembly. Newly cleaned, with touches of gold, the statue of the Tsar leading his troops in liberation of Bulgaria is impressive. But his watchful stance and position opposite parliament, the symbol of Bulgarian democracy, brings with it some ambiguity, brought into sharper focus by the situation in Ukraine. The […]
Read more on Russia’s Actions Make the Case for a Western-facing Bulgaria | Reply (1)
29th January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Although for me the biggest story of 2013 was the way civil society found its voice, the biggest story UK-Bulgaria story was the vexed issue of migration. We should differentiate between actions and words. The British government’s actions have been clear. We have honoured our legal commitment to lift labour restrictions on Bulgarian workers. In […]
Read more on Migration: UK and Bulgaria Are More Similar than You May Think | Reply (1)
