3rd February 2015
The Central European Network is a grouping of nine British Embassies stretching from Poland to Bulgaria, representing an area we describe as ‘High Growth Europe’. Each Ambassador in the network is charged with promoting one of our priority sectors for developing British trade, as part of UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) Export 2020 initiative. I […]
28th January 2015 Bucharest, Romania
Today’s blog post is written by Cora Motoc, my colleague in the political section. It deals with a topic which is often much closer to our everyday lives than we might initially think. What would you say or do if you knew that behind your most beautiful vacations or most perfect evenings out, there are […]
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21st January 2015
I was invited last week by the National Science and Arts Foundation and the Mayor of Sector 2 in Bucharest to help give out the prizes at the fifth edition of the “Om Intre Oameni” awards ceremony. The event, held on Romania’s National Cultural Day, the birth date of poet Mihai Eminescu, honoured Romanians who […]
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15th January 2015
A visit by the Foreign Secretary is an important moment for any Ambassador or High Commissioner, providing opportunities for working with the host government at the most senior level, and a spur to host authorities to think about the bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom and how to develop it. And so I was delighted to welcome Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond […]
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29th December 2014
During a visit to London last month I headed to the delightfully quirky Horniman Museum at Forest Hill, where curator Fiona Kerlogue gave me a tour of the Revisiting Romania exhibition, on show since October. The exhibition offers a beautiful display of Romanian folk art, from embroidered sheepskin jackets to the intricately carved distaffs often […]
22nd December 2014
I was back in London for a few days last month to attend a series of events focused on the export opportunities for UK companies represented by the Central European region, stretching from Poland in the north to Bulgaria in the south. The centrepiece was the High Growth Europe Showcase, organised in concert with the […]
18th December 2014
‘I was 3 month and 2 day old when fights for ‘Awakening Romania’ took off. I am 25 year old now. And I am very proud that the age of democratic Romania will always be the same with my age. The topic of the ’89 Revolution is very sensitive; the stories on the personal experiences […]
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17th December 2014
‘I made my first visit on business to Romania during December 1981. It was then when I first met my future wife. Over the following year I made any excuse to visit Romania just to see her again. In fact, I made over twenty four flights from London to Bucharest. Eventually I found out that […]
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16th December 2014
By December 1989 the situation in Romania for the population was bad. Years of erratic dictatorial rule, ever increasing privation and austerity had produced an atmosphere ripe for change. But because of the very powerful communist tyranny and repression not even the most expert and experienced diplomatic and foreign media observers foresaw the sudden overthrow […]
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15th December 2014
Continued from 12 December Friday, December 22nd, Alecu Russo Diplomatic quarters 08.00 am Eleanor had not yet turned up. I was finishing breakfast and wondering in the quietness of morning whether it was all over. Had the police/soldiers and all the apparatus of the Police State finished the job last night, and cleared all the […]
Read more on Romanian Revolution through British Eyes/ Bernard Marshall: ‘Two days of the Romanian Christmas Revolution in December 1989’ (Chapter II) | Reply (1)