19th January 2017 Austria, Vienna
A photographer is on his knees, stealthily taking pictures of Ambassador Leigh Turner from behind a Christmas tree. Another stands in the corner, facing the wall. Unnoticed by the other guests, she points her camera at the ceiling and triggers the shutter. Has the Ambassador’s residence in Vienna been infiltrated by foreign agents? Not quite. […]
Read more on How and why we hosted an Instagram event | Reply
30th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
30 November is St Andrew’s Day, named after the Patron Saint of Scotland. St Andrew offers continuity across cultures: he was crucified at Patras, in modern-day Greece, and his body was taken to Constantinople before being transferred to Amalfi in Italy in the 13th Century. Language Teaching Assistant Dan explains St Andrew’s Day The official […]
Read more on What connects St Andrew’s Day and a cricket-ball death? | Reply (1)
29th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
The grass is perfect. Rows of tombstones stand in rows. Two Austrian musicians play “The Last Post”. I was honoured recently to attend Remembrance Day commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Klagenfurt, in Austria. The cemetery contains 589 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. Most died on Austrian territory as prisoners of […]
14th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
Vienna is not Austria – any more than London is the United Kingdom. So I was delighted recently to visit Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) to find out what makes Austria’s largest and second most populous province tick; and to explore and promote connections to the UK. We started our visit in Amstetten, where I sampled tasty […]
20th September 2016 Vienna, Austria
When I arrived at the British Embassy in Vienna on 29 August 2016 one of my first meetings was with my excellent Press and Public Affairs (PPA) team. Part of the work of diplomats is to explain to people what we do; and draw attention to good things that link our countries together. For example, […]
6th September 2016 Vienna, Austria
What does a diplomat do? On Monday 29 August I started work in Vienna as “Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organisations in Vienna”. Recent weeks offer some pointers as to how I’ve prepared for the job, and, now, started. For example, I arrived in Austria on 1 August […]
Read more on Salzburg, Vienna, Austria: language, migration and nuclear testing | Reply (2)
9th September 2015
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 […]
8th November 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I am off to London to participate in a week of events selling the opportunity for British business that Emerging Europe represents. Let me begin by defining Emerging Europe. At its core are nine markets, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, which together make up the Foreign Office’s Central European […]