25th June 2013
When I took on this job, I didn’t expect to be writing about G8* summits. But I was asked to speak to an audience by the Institute of Certified Financial Managers, and I was wondering what to say. Like many of my fellow bloggers, I turned to the G8 Summit which we were about to […]
18th June 2013
I spend some of my time considering the state of civil society in Belarus, as a measure of the political and social health of the country. Is it flourishing? Does it have “space” to grow? Is the government responding to the concerns raised by civil society? I’m struck by how elusive it is to define […]
31st May 2013
New information and communications technologies (ICT) are changing the way we live and work. We can communicate instantaneously, find all sorts of information, and share ideas with others anywhere in the world. This transformation isn’t uniform across the world. Not everyone has reliable access to fast broadband let alone the internet, or wants to spend […]
24th May 2013
I took part in the Victory Day ceremony in Minsk on 9 May to honour the veterans and fallen of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. The term “Great Patriotic War” sounds strange to us Britons, but we weren’t invaded. Our memory is of the longer period we know as the Second World War (WWII) […]
28th March 2013
Last week, I was a judge in an English speaking competition in Minsk, as part of a world-wide competition organised by the English Speaking Union. And then I gave a speech in English at Friendship House (Дом Дружбы). It was a humbling experience to listen to 12 young people from Belarus speaking English fluently – […]
6th March 2013
One of the skills a diplomat needs – or, at least, is very useful if they have it – is to understand people. How they think, their motivations, what affects their behaviour, and so on. There is a saying in English that you should try to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes”. In other words, […]
1st March 2013
The talk last week was all about PBs or “personal bests”. Best of what? We often make up “catch phrases” – or “модное слово” (modnaye slova). They are not always easy to understand. By “personal best”, we mean “personal best times” or “личный рекорд” (leechni record) in Russian and “асабісты рэкорд” (asabisty record) in Belarusian. […]
22nd February 2013
The best pleasures in life are those you least expect. I went to a concert of a British singer in Minsk last week. I was busy and hadn’t checked who it was that my colleague had suggested I go and see. The concert was given by the jazz singer Ian Shaw, with local jazz band […]
15th February 2013
Prosperity is one of the major priorities of the UK government worldwide. We define it not just about increasing exports and investments (though both are important), but we also want to open markets up and promote sustainable growth. Belarus isn’t our largest market in the CIS but, in 2011, British exports to Belarus totalled £125m. […]
4th February 2013
After I found out I was coming to Belarus, I soon discovered that there was the Belarusian, as well as the Russian, language. Unfortunately, the British tax payer can only afford to pay for me to learn one language, and that is Russian. I’ve learnt a few words of Belarusian. I’ve enjoyed the months: Студзень […]