12th August 2011
Just arrived at the the Sziget Festival today and right away we bumped into our two British bobbies, Ross and Adrian, who are patrolling in uniform (and are therefore in high demand with fans who want to be photographed with them). This is the 4th year British police with Glastonbury Festival experience have come here […]
5th August 2011
This morning I was at the Budapest Holocaust Museum to meet the new Director and then attend a ceremony and exhibition. The Museum covers a grim topic but is one of the “must-see” venues in our city – a British Parliamentarian (of Jewish origin) visiting last year called it “magnificent”. Not only is it an […]
22nd June 2011
The “Bards of Wales” project came to fruition last night with a performance of the world premier of Karl Jenkins’ cantata at the Palace of Arts. Almost all 1800 seats were full and the audience (including President Schmitt) gave the work a rapturous reception. British Minister David Jones of the Welsh Office visited Hungary for […]
20th June 2011
Some weeks ago I blogged about the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. This week (11-19 June) the Budapest Pride Festival is taking place, with the annual March due tomorrow. The police have pledged that the March will be secure and safe (though there has been an announcement about a possible far right counter-demonstration in […]
17th May 2011
Today is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Why is it necessary to have such a day? Well, because same-sex relations remain criminalised in more than 70 countries. Discrimination against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity continues to occur even in countries where laws exist to […]
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19th April 2011
Yesterday afternoon I participated as Patron in the 2011 BBC Entertainment and English Speaking Union (ESU) Public Speaking Awards in Hungary. Along with the Ministry of National Resources and Magyar Telekom, the event was also supported by the British Council, Oxford University Press and the Robert Burns International Foundation. It’s the first time the BBC […]
8th April 2011
In the bright spring Budapest weather a large group of us gathered together earlier today to witness the unveiling of a monument commemorating some 22,000 Polish victims of the Katyn massacre by Soviet secret police in 1940. Oaks were also planted as a sign of homage to Hungarian prisoners who had been executed in the […]
21st March 2011
59 years in jail, reduced to 35 years, for satire? It sounds like a bad joke. But this is the sentence handed down by the regime in Burma in 2008 to popular comedian Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar. And his case is a good example of why the international community continues to call on […]
25th February 2011
Earlier this week I sat with the UK Sports Minister and leading members of the Hungarian Olympics and Paralympics Committees. Hugh Robertson was visiting to attend the Sports Ministerial Informal meeting at Gödöllő and at the end of his programme made time to meet our partners and ask what we could do to help them […]
31st January 2011
Tonight we have brought high strategy and culture together. Some 50 students from the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) run by the UK Defence Academy are in town to learn about Hungary – including students from Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UAE […]