31st January 2017
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 […]
31st January 2017 Vienna, Austria
The clock is slightly fake. Its large face, with a hint of what I believe may be 1930s or 1950s design, displays not only hour, minute and second hands, but also – mostly – the correct time. Take it off the wall, however, and you will see that the original electric mechanism has been replaced […]
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19th January 2017 Austria, Vienna
A photographer is on his knees, stealthily taking pictures of Ambassador Leigh Turner from behind a Christmas tree. Another stands in the corner, facing the wall. Unnoticed by the other guests, she points her camera at the ceiling and triggers the shutter. Has the Ambassador’s residence in Vienna been infiltrated by foreign agents? Not quite. […]
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19th January 2017 Vienna, Austria
Which leading Austrian Instagramer features photographs of a figure in a yellow sou’wester? I was pleased to welcome to the Embassy recently a group of mostly young Austrians with leading accounts on the social media, like Instagram. In instagramese, this would read: Great to welcome @igersvienna to #BritishEmbassy #grambassador. One of the challenges of social […]
10th January 2017 Vienna, Austria
A person is transported illegally away from their community to somewhere unfamiliar or foreign. Once there, they are forced to work without any form of contract or proper remuneration. This is modern slavery. It is happening throughout the world, including in Europe, on a large scale. According to the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and […]
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13th December 2016 Vienna, Austria
As an Ambassador constantly meeting people of all nationalities interested in the impact of the 23 June vote by the UK to leave the European Union, I am an avid follower of statistics. So for ease of reference, I’ve put together a few of those which have caught my eye. Vienna Globenmuseum The fact Britain […]
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30th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
30 November is St Andrew’s Day, named after the Patron Saint of Scotland. St Andrew offers continuity across cultures: he was crucified at Patras, in modern-day Greece, and his body was taken to Constantinople before being transferred to Amalfi in Italy in the 13th Century. Language Teaching Assistant Dan explains St Andrew’s Day The official […]
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29th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
The grass is perfect. Rows of tombstones stand in rows. Two Austrian musicians play “The Last Post”. I was honoured recently to attend Remembrance Day commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Klagenfurt, in Austria. The cemetery contains 589 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. Most died on Austrian territory as prisoners of […]
14th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
Vienna is not Austria – any more than London is the United Kingdom. So I was delighted recently to visit Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) to find out what makes Austria’s largest and second most populous province tick; and to explore and promote connections to the UK. We started our visit in Amstetten, where I sampled tasty […]
11th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
Just over 55 years ago, on 30 October 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed was set off over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Sea. The Soviet Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons, several thousand times as strong as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The mushroom cloud reached around 60 kilometers into […]