4th July 2022
Belgrade, Serbia
The numbers are growing. Some 13 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. More than 5 million are still outside the country. Over 6 million people remain displaced within Ukraine. These are ordinary people, children and adults, citizens of a European country that is a close friend and ally of both Serbia and the UK. A few […]
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24th May 2022
Belgrade, Serbia
I am a diplomat not a historian. But as a diplomat you cannot escape or ignore history – and nor should you want to. It is desperately sad to see a country with a rich heritage being trapped by a re-imagined history rather than addressing present needs and future opportunities. Chatting over dinner about 15 […]
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30th April 2022
Belgrade, Serbia
Disinformation has become one of the defining words of our age. It is not a new phenomenon. But its present scale is unprecedented, helped by round the clock broadcasting and social media. There is a shorter word for it: lies. But ‘disinformation’ perhaps better conveys the sense of deliberate corrupting of the media environment with […]
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2nd March 2022
Belgrade, Serbia
The world watched with horror as Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to launch an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal attack upon Ukraine. People all around the world have witnessed with admiration the extraordinary calm courage shown by the people of Ukraine. As a young diplomat I first travelled to Ukraine in the late 1980s. I was in Moscow […]
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