29th November 2010
Last week I had the honour to award certificates to forty men and women of the Romanian armed forces that will soon be joining the rest of the Romanian contingent in Zabul Province in Afghanistan. They had just completed four weeks training with British military instructors as part of a course of several months spent […]
15th November 2010
This is the time of year when we remember all those killed in the First and Second World Wars, and in the conflicts since. Yesterday I visited Comana, a beautiful nature reserve and monastery not far from Bucharest. I was there with a large team from the Embassy and a number of our partners from […]
4th November 2010
Last month I joined a group of ambassadors visiting the vast and impressive Vauban Fortress at Alba Iulia. As a historian I found this a fascinating place to visit. All the different eras of Romanian history are represented here – the original Dacian settlement, the Roman legionary fortress and the magnificent Habsburg citadel in the […]
Read more on Alba Iulia: Romania’s heritage, Romania’s future | Reply
1st November 2010
This week, I made my first official visit outside Bucharest, and chose to go to Cluj- one of the largest cities in Transylvania. Why Cluj? Because this town is becoming one of the hottest centres for IT software development. European and UK companies are getting a piece of the action. Have you had an SMS […]
28th October 2010
President Basescu promulgated a law on speeding up judicial procedures on Monday. This has been termed ‘the small reform law’, but its significance is big, and its adoption is very welcome news. Over this summer, Romania took a number of steps to reform of its justice system and tackle corruption. This latest one will support […]
27th October 2010
The Metropolitan Police has announced that 28 children have been taken into police protection and seven adults have been arrested in the largest phase of “Operation Golf” – a joint investigation by the Romanian and British Police with a large child trafficking operation which was being run including in the Romanian village of Ţăndărei. This […]
Read more on Major Met Police – Romanian Police operation on child trafficking | Reply
13th October 2010
Romania has an extraordinary rich heritage. Hidden away in its woods and valleys, it has some of the most important architectural treasures in Europe. The painted monasteries of Bucovina are one. I recently spent a weekend in the ancient Saxon villages of Transylvania. My guide was the British conservationist, William Blacker, author of “Along the […]
Read more on ‘Ein Feste Burg’ – Romania’s Saxon Lands | Reply (2)
5th October 2010
This is not my first time in Romania. I have always had a fascination with central and eastern Europe, and it’s one I share with my wife Linda. When the Berlin Wall came down she and I were students together at Cambridge, and Linda just had to get on the first plane to Berlin to […]
28th September 2010
Today Ken Clarke is visiting Bucharest. Ken Clarke is one of the biggest figures in British politics. He is now Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and in his long political career he has held most of the big jobs in government. His first job was in Ted Heath’s government in 1972, he […]
Read more on Secretary of State for Justice visits Romania | Reply
24th September 2010
The post of Ambassador is no ordinary job. For most jobs you do an interview, sign a contract, show up at the office and get down to work. I did an interview for this job, but that was over a year ago in London. Once I was selected for it, I became a piece of […]
Read more on Presenting credentials at the Cotroceni Palace | Reply