17th October 2024 Belgrade, Serbia
20. oktobar 1944. godine. Jugoslovenski partizani i vojnici sovjetske Crvene armije probili su se u Beograd, oslobađajući grad od nemačkih snaga koje su ga držale pod okupacijom od aprila 1941. Oslobođenje Beograda bilo je kulminacija višegodišnjeg gerilskog ratovanja na celoj teritoriji Jugoslavije. Niz ofanzivnih operacija partizana tokom meseci koji su prethodili bile su podstaknute činjenicom […]
11th October 2024 Belgrade, Serbia
My family and I arrived in Serbia a year ago, and we feel so lucky to be able to call this beautiful country home. We have travelled a lot. We have learned a lot. And everywhere we have gone, we have met amazing people doing amazing things. I see so much potential in this […]
12th June 2023 Belgrade, Serbia
As a diplomat living or working in a historic building you find yourself thinking about the people who occupied the same physical and professional space before you. This is natural curiosity, interest in historic events and a wish to understand past relationships that underpin present day ones. I hope the Financial Times will forgive me […]
5th June 2023 Belgrade, Serbia
Dear Serbia, I first arrived in Belgrade in the mid-1980s by train as a student with a small tent. I caught a number 53 bus to the campsite that used to next to the ‘Kamp Košutnjak’ café. Had I known then what the future held for me, I could have looked across the valley to the […]
28th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia
People around the world have watched in horror and disbelief as Russian military hardware wreaks death and destruction across Ukraine. Moscow’s decision to launch a brutal and bloody war is illegal and unjustified. It is unsurprising that the world has moved quickly to condemn the invasion, and actions such as targeting of maternity hospitals and […]
8th February 2021 Belgrade, Serbia
In this strangest of years, international cooperation has taken on a different aspect. Border closures, quarantine and testing regimes have never before been part of my daily diplomatic vocabulary. Though as a well travelled diplomat vaccination has long played a small but important part in my professional life. The world faces a common challenge that […]
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22nd January 2021 Belgrade, Serbia
This is the first blogcast I have recorded for several weeks. This is mainly because I had to travel to the UK for family reasons – a journey that was a story in itself. But there is another reason too. I have been spending my evenings doing an online training course. Diplomacy is a career […]
27th November 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
The global skies have been pretty dark metaphorically over past months. They have been pretty gloomy too here literally for much of the time. I’m lucky enough to look out of my window in Belgrade at trees and sky. Sadly though that view is often rather murky, with visibility limited to the great oak trees at the end of my […]
30th October 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
Diplomats move house more than most people. We move between countries every two, three or four years. We move backwards and forwards to and from our own countries. Even within our home countries jobs in our foreign ministries may be spread across more than one city. I have lived in six countries outside the UK. Some of my colleagues will have […]
25th September 2020 Belgrade, Serbia
The Second World War finally came to an end just over 75 years ago. The memory of that war becomes more distant with each passing generation. This was the lived experience of my parents’ generation, experience and memories that our parents – or perhaps for some of you your grandparents – recounted to us as children, but which we can […]