23rd March 2014
The Crimean referendum of 16 March falls far below recognised international standards. To begin with, it is unconstitutional. Ukraine’s constitution clearly states that the status of any part of the country’s territory can only be changed as the result of a nationwide referendum. No one objected to the idea of a referendum as such. And […]
17th March 2014
When Pope Francis spoke about Ukraine at the Sunday Angelus on 2 March, he called for all Ukrainians to overcome misunderstandings and to build the future of the nation together and made “a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every initiative on behalf of dialogue and concord”. Regrettably, there is one country in […]
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15th March 2014 Dublin, Ireland
Resolving the Ukraine crisis is a top priority for Britain and Poland: this matters to us because we both believe in a world where the rule of law is upheld and territorial integrity respected. We need to deter further Russian military action and de-escalate the situation. Our Prime Ministers David Cameron and Donald Tusk have […]
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13th March 2014
Britain’s longest serving Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, famously looked out from his office overlooking St James’ Park in early August 1914 and, as war loomed, commented “the lamps are going out all over Europe”. I often thought of those words in August 2008, during the Russian aggression in Georgia, not least as my office, as […]
10th March 2014 Paris, France
I’ve talked before about the events in Kiev, at a time when they reminded me of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the extraordinary surge of freedom and independence that happened after that in Eastern Europe. Since then, things have got more difficult, because we’ve had what is obviously an intervention of Russian armed […]
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10th March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
With all the talk these days of business and human rights it can only be a matter of time before Council sessions start getting corporate sponsors. When it happens I hope that manufacturers of beta blockers are first in line to put their name to the March session and that they have plenty of freebies for […]
24th February 2014 Paris, France
The events in Ukraine over last week have been absolutely extraordinary, and they’ve made me think back to that period in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin wall, and the liberation of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
29th November 2013 London, UK
The EU’s eastern neighbours are an integral part of Europe. They share our European history and culture, and seek to build an independent and prosperous future as sovereign nations free from outside pressure and influence. Their importance to the EU is unmistakable. Eastern Europe has seen many fundamental shifts since 1991. The spread of democracy, […]
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23rd May 2012
21st May marked 100 days to go to the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. I’m here at the HQ of the Ukrainian National Paralympics Committee (NPC) in Kyiv for a press conference to mark the event, together with NPC President Valeriy Sushkevych; Simon Minty, a UK specialist on diversity and inclusivity; Sergiy Glushchenko, […]
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17th April 2012
Ukraine is, with Russia, amongst the countries in Europe with the highest rates of HIV infection. In Ukraine around 60 people are infected daily and over 235,000 people live with HIV/AIDS. So I was delighted when Alliance Ukraine, a member of the Brighton-based International HIV/AIDS Alliance, organised a visit to Ukraine recently by Lord Fowler, […]
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