2nd March 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Freedom of expression, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international legal obligations, is one of the principles underlying the common ground upon which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was built. From its earliest days the states of the OSCE (and its forerunner CSCE) were clear that this right […]
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22nd February 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Democracy…..has the disadvantage of merely counting votes not weighing them. (Dean Inge 1860-1954) Meeting in Paris in 1990 the states of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, forerunner of the OSCE, heralded ‘A New Era of Democracy, Peace and Unity’: We undertake to build, consolidate and strengthen democracy as the only system of […]
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31st January 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Human rights and fundamental freedoms are integral to the concept of comprehensive security embodied by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This year this UK has taken on the role of chairing OSCE Human Dimension Committee. This is one of the main pillars of the organisation. How governments treat their people, and we […]
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30th August 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In January 1992 in the early days of a reunified Germany I visited Potsdam after dropping off the Vilnius Diplomatic Bag at the British offices in the old Berlin Olympic Stadium. I wanted to see the Palace of Sans Souci, where Frederick the Great had employed Quantz and CPE Bach. But even after three years […]
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28th June 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Sarajevo is not just a beautiful, historic city. Set in a magical landscape, it is also an enchanting one, full of life and promise, but with a past as painful as any European city in living history. To me, as to so many diplomats – indeed millions of people around the world – the names […]
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19th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This afternoon I will attend a memorial service in the City of London’s Guildhall to celebrate the long, eventful life of Sir Nicholas Winton, who died last year aged 106. As a young man, Sir Nicholas travelled briefly to Prague in 1938 to help a friend facilitating urgent evacuation of refugees from the looming Nazi […]
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9th December 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Years ago, studying in London, I was puzzled by the enthusiasm of international relations students for spending days at a time for running from room to room playing ‘Diplomacy’. Throughout my subsequent years as a diplomat the board game has seemed far removed from what I do – until now. Last week I attended my […]
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30th November 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This week the OSCE moves south with its 57 national delegations from Vienna to Belgrade, capital city of our 2015 Chair-in-Office Serbia, to await the arrival of our 57 government representatives for the annual Ministerial Council. The event may not make the headlines like NATO or EU Foreign Ministers. There will be no high profile […]
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4th November 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
That media headlines are focused elsewhere, particularly Syria, makes it all the more important not to lose sight of the conflict on our own threshold in eastern Ukraine. The reduction in violence and destruction in the Donbas is welcome, giving a chance to restore services and make the region safer for the people who live […]
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21st October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Each week I take the UK seat at the OSCE Permanent Council in the Hofburg, imposing former Hapsburg imperial seat, where I recently read, the 1815 Congress of Vienna ‘danced the night away, 200 years ago, shaping post-Napoleonic Europe almost as an afterthought’. History records an impressive social whirl around the lengthy negotiations. 201 years […]
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