DIPLO Blog

Skip to content Sian MacLeod UK Ambassador to Serbia 8th April 2020 Belgrade, Serbia A Tale of Two Hospitals Since the world became aware of the new deadly coronavirus COVID19 spreading rapidly among the population of a Chinese province, governments around the world have been planning and preparing to deal with its expected effects. But few people can have anticipated the scale of devastation and disruption that this virus would soon be bringing to communities around the world. Like coloured dye dripped into a bowl of water, the virus has spread even to the most remote corners of the world. Working in a global network everyday I read personal accounts of the impact upon great powers, European neighbours, and the tiniest island communities in the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. As a British diplomat working at home in Belgrade and in constant touch with my Embassy and colleagues across the Western Balkans I follow developments in the UK and Serbia particularly closely. My Embassy and ..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna 6th April 2020 Vienna, Austria Getting 391 British Nationals home safely A plane approaches London Heathrow, appearing to grow larger as it nears the runway. As British airways flight BA0961 lands safely, a collective sigh of relief is heard at the British Embassy in Vienna. In the last two weeks, the British Embassy in Vienna has helped 391 people get out of ski resorts in Austria to return home to the UK. This is part of the Foreign Office’s huge international task of getting travelling British nationals home, as international transport routes close. On 3-5 April, a group of 129 seasonal ski workers, including British and Irish nationals, returned to the UK from quarantine areas in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. To do this, they needed to register with the embassy for special permission to leave a quarantine zone. We then worked closely with..

Skip to content Matt Field British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina 25th March 2020 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina “We can be heroes. Just for one day.” I sit to write this blog at a table in my home. Like many people across Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and in fact the world, I am currently working from home, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am lucky to have the space and technology to do so. There are many who want to work, but are now unable. I hope to show that being an Ambassador is also a job that can be done remotely. And I am really pleased that as the British Embassy we are all doing our part. Why? Because we collectively face the greatest public health crisis in a generation. It is now abundantly clear that the entire world is affected, or will be so, and that every single one of us has a role to play. On the frontline are our doctors, nurses, emergency service staff, and similar critical workers. Many are continuing to do other essential work, the shop assistants,..

Skip to content Bob Last Deputy Head, UK Mission Political Team 19th March 2020 Geneva, Switzerland Corona Council (24 February – 13 March) I’ve long had a sense of foredboding about the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council. Those of us who’ve been around these parts longer than most tend to measure our life-spans in the number of Council sessions we’ve racked up, as well as years. I worked out some time ago that session 43 would be the one when my real age and my Council age would come together and it was not something I’d been looking forward to. Before the session began, the biggest talking point had been how we would manage to finish the session on time following the drastic cuts in meeting time imposed on the Council by UN HQ. The fear was that the session might overrun by a couple of days into a fifth week. But who could have imagined this? For the last few weeks, it felt like the walls were creeping in on us, slowly at first, but ever closer and more menacing as the scale a..

Skip to content Nina Forgwe Political and Programmes Officer, Cameroon Guest blogger for FCO Careers 12th March 2020 Nina Forgwe: Success, what success? Nina Forgwe, Political and Programmes Officer, CameroonAs part of our Women’s History Month campaign, #RedefiningSuccess, we have asked our colleagues from across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to share what success means to them. Here, Nina Forgwe shares her definition. Success, what success?I come from a family where my siblings and I are all university educated. I have travelled the world a fair bit. Some consider me successful. I have a great job. But, I also come from a community where the success narrative for a woman is dominated by three solid tests; marriage, child bearing and the needs of the home and husband. A successful woman is one who excels at all three. I failed at all three. I bought into that narrative so completely that a year ago, I was a failure. There was no pitty-patter of tiny feet. In the eyes of my husb..

Skip to content Simon Cleobury UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament 11th March 2020 Geneva, Switzerland Blog: Understanding the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Working on nuclear issues is hard – not only understanding the science behind it, but also its complicated politics and history. To help me do nuclear diplomacy better, I wanted to improve my awareness of how the nuclear fuel cycle works. That is why earlier this year I visited five nuclear sites – three in the UK and two in France. My visit to the UK nuclear sites was organised by the Ministry of Defence and the National Nuclear Laboratory. Over the three days, we visited Capenhurst, a uranium enrichment site; Springfields, where uranium is converted into fuel for use in reactors; and Sellafield, where spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed. The sites at Capenhurst and Sellafield produced the UK’s fissile materials for its nuclear weapons, prior to the moratorium on new production in 1995. The visits helped me t..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna Part of UK in Austria 8th March 2020 Vienna, Austria Maiden – awesome, inspirational women on the big screen I recently had co-hosted a special premiere of Maiden, the gripping story of how Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old Briton, became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World race in 1989. The race, today known as the Volvo Ocean Race, was a brutal competition comprised of six legs totalling 32,000 nautical miles. The screening was organised by UN Vienna to mark International Womens’ Day on Sunday 8 March. The film is about defiance and determination. Tracy undertook huge personal risks, including mortgaging her own house to embark on her endeavor which was met with dismissive comments and condescending coverage from colleagues and male sports journalists. These are retold – with starting can..

Skip to content Natasha Dimitrovska Gender Specialist and Chevening Scholar Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 7th March 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia International Women’s Day of solidarity and unity!The past year was very eventful for women’s rights and feminism. On a global level, among other events, the #metoo movement has been growing stronger, bringing down some very privileged and powerful men, a feminist song originated in Chile spread across the globe, pointing the finger at the systemic violence women endure around the world, and women finally got the deserved place in missions to space. On the other hand, women’s reproductive rights and freedoms got to a halt with the reinstated global gag rule, feminists increasingly face backlash by right-wing governments, and the home is still the most unsafe place for a woman. Turning to the Balkan region and North Macedonia, advancements seem to be going at a much slower pace. Female politicians, espec..

Skip to content Kristina Hadzi Vasileva Managing Director at Strategic Development Consulting and Chevening Scholar Guest blogger for UK in North Macedonia Part of UK in North Macedonia 6th March 2020 Skopje, North Macedonia 8 March – How far have we come?The first week of March is always so intense for me. Not that there are no such other weeks during the year (family birthdays, new years’, vacation preparations..). Yet during the first week of March everyone and anyone suddenly remembers us, women. Flowers are sold on improvised stalls of cardboard boxes on every corner, presents are bought and given, dinners organized and celebrated with music and dancing. TV shows are hosted with the sole topic of discussing women’s rights, gender equality, domestic violence, political participation of women, women’s economic advancement. The reason, as you might guess is 8 of March. Recognized as international women’s day, this date celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievem..

Skip to content Leigh Turner Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna Part of UK in Austria 5th March 2020 Vienna, Austria Authors you should read moreI’m looking at my bookshelf at home when I notice a weird similarity to the rogues’ gallery of former British ambassadors to Austria in the embassy. My bookshelf is dominated by male authors. The rogues’ gallery for Vienna is exclusively male, up until my excellent predecessor, Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque (in Vienna 2012-16). Male domination of both literature and diplomacy belongs in the past. Despite their relative rarity on my bookshelves, I enjoy many women authors: a quick scout turned up Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice” – a fantastically elegant, and funny, book); Charlotte Bronte (“Jane Eyre”); AS Byatt (“Possession”); Jung Chang (“Wild Swans”); Jackie Collins (“Hollywood Wives” – my tastes are eclectic); George Eliot (“Middlemarch” – one ..