9th February 2011
Today the British Government launches its Trade and Investment White Paper. This is our statement to our trade and investment partners across the world, including Hungary, about how we plan to work together for mutual benefit. It’s about: Maximising the opportunities for businesses in the UK to trade and invest, and attracting investment to the […]
9th February 2011
On Friday the Embassy was packed with Mayors and Deputy Mayors from across the country, engaging with senior staff and managers from Tesco. It was a chance for this British-based company to thank them for all those two-way, mutually satisfactory arrangements that exist in many Hungarian towns and cities where there are Tesco stores. And […]
2nd February 2011
I should probably explain why I was sampling some very good beer at Dreher Breweries in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. I was at an event called “Making a difference through beer”! And I was trying my best to make that difference. This was actually one of a series of events run by the […]
31st January 2011
Tonight we have brought high strategy and culture together. Some 50 students from the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) run by the UK Defence Academy are in town to learn about Hungary – including students from Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UAE […]
31st January 2011
Tonight I’m at the “Big” Burns Supper in central Budapest. The first such large-scale celebration of Robert Burns took place here in 1997 and since 2005 they have been run by the Robert Burns International Foundation – the British Ambassador is one of the patrons of the RBIF. This evening is one of the largest […]
21st January 2011
The British Government aims to be the “greenest ever”. So it is no surprise that in recent official meetings – and we have many more visitors to Budapest than usual as a result of Hungary’s EU Presidency – UK Ministers and officials have raised the subject of renewable energy and Hungary’s geothermal potential. Thermal waters […]
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20th January 2011
In my previous posting, I mentioned the informal meeting of European Union EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) Ministers here earlier this week at the newly renovated Grassalkovich Royal Palace in Gödöllő. Discussion revolved around the question of what can be done to create jobs at a time of economic downturn. Earlier meetings […]
18th January 2011
We are already well into the Hungarian Presidency, with Ministers and senior officials pouring in from other EU countries for Presidency meetings. In the last week we have had meetings of Europe Directors; Political Directors: and Europe Ministers for a GAC or General Affairs Council (all from Foreign Ministries); we are in the middle of […]
8th January 2011
Hungary is now officially Presidency of the Council of the European Union. I was present at a short and dignified ceremony on 6 January, in the spectacular Dome Hall of the Hungarian Parliament, when the Prime Minister of Belgium formally handed over this important function in the presence of a large audience of Ministers, officials, […]
6th January 2011
We are in Esztergom on 5 January, for an annual ecumenical commemoration ceremony for Saint Thomas a Becket. The service takes place on top of the hill facing the Cathedral, on which Saint Thomas’s small chapel stands, in icy weather. This part of the event is kept brief – some short readings and prayers. I […]