Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

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17th March 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

The GREAT Mega Mission in Budapest

We brought the biggest business delegation to the region in living memory last week. Led by the Trade and Investment minister, Lord Livingston.  A total of some 65 British companies came to the region, 40 of which came on the Budapest leg. It took an immense amount of preparation by the team here (and by […]

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14th March 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Reflections on 25 Years Service with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Guest blog by Technical Services Officer Matthew Smith  I joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in late 1988 as an apprentice Telecommunications Technical Officer. With keen interests in travel and electronic engineering, this seemed the ideal job opportunity and the subsequent 25 years have not disappointed. The recruitment process had taken half a year […]

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8th March 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Van-e remény?

A nemzetközi nőnap alkalmából L. Ritók Nóra, az Igazgyöngy Alapítvány alapítója osztja meg velünk érzéseit, gondolatait a társadalom peremén, szegénységben, hátrányos helyzetben élő roma nők, anyák, lányok helyzetéről. “Egyszer egy szociológus azt mondta, mikor nálunk, az Igazgyöngy Alapítványnál járt, hogy túl feminimek vagyunk. Akkor bosszantott ez a megjegyzése. Ma már tudom, hogy épp ezért boldogulunk könnyebben. […]

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27th February 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Thoughts on Holocaust Remembrance

Much has been written and said recently about the Hungarian government’s relationship with the local Jewish communities. I don’t want to address that here. Rather I wanted to offer some thoughts about Holocaust remembrance more generally. The UK took over the Chair of IHRA this week. That’s the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. IHRA is a 31 member international body, […]

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11th February 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

GB United – Videoton Friendly Football Match

Guest Blog by Ben Luckock, Head of Policy Team at British Embassy Budapest Just over sixty years ago Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley. For England, the defeat led to a fundamental review of antiquated training and tactics and the adoption of more continental methods. Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: “We saw a […]

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30th January 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Top 10 Public Diplomacy Achievements in 2013 at the British Embassy in Budapest

1. GREAT Campaign: Innovation is GREAT, Formula 1 Grand Prix campaign As part of the Central Europe Network’s GREAT campaign, we organised a high profile programme for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The campaign comprised of bringing a vintage London double decker bus to the race circuit to serve as a special venue for business meetings. […]

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27th January 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Better Together

It’s been quite a start to 2014. No chance of easing my way back into work after the holidays. The year has got going at 100 miles an hour. I was wondering which part of the excitement to write about in my first blog of 2014.  But I went to a celebration of Burns night […]

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7th January 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Looking Forward, Looking Back

I can’t quite believe that 2013 has passed already.  12 months has gone by like they were 12 weeks.  It’s a good sign that it’s been a fun and busy year.  And over the holidays I thought, briefly, about all that had happened.  Not a scientific or well researched review of the year – just […]

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23rd December 2013 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

British Alumni for innovation and competitiveness in the V4 countries

Guest blog by Dr. Zoltán Csedő, Member of the Board, Hungarian Association of British Alumni. It was a great privilege to launch the www.britishalumni.org knowledge-sharing portal at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday 18 December. MFA Deputy State Secretary Gergely Prőhle hosted the launch event with British Ambassador Jonathan Knott. Ambassadors of the […]

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13th December 2013 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

A successful experiment

Guest blog by Peter Krekó, Director of Political Capital Institute and co-chair of EU RAN PREVENT. Two weeks ago, the Embassy of the UK hosted a conference organised by Political Capital and Szombat on scapegoating ideologies, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories and the counter-narratives. As one of the organisers, I’ll try to resist the temptation to praise […]

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About Jonathan Knott

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take up his post. He left this post on April…

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to
Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take
up his post. He left this post on April 2015.
He has previously held a variety of diplomatic posts at home and
abroad, several with a particular focus on commercial and corporate
finance issues. Jonathan has served in a number of positions in the
British Diplomatic Service since joining in 1988:
Before his appointment was Deputy Head of Mission and Director for Trade and Investment in South Korea from 2008 to 2011.Between 2005 and 2008 he held the post of Deputy Finance Director in the FCO.From 2000 to 2005 he served as First Secretary (Trade, Corporate Affairs and Finance Negotiator) in UKDel OECD Paris.From 1996 to 2000 he was First Secretary (Head of Political/Economic/Aid Section) in Mexico.From 1995 to 1996 he worked in the FCO as Deputy European Correspondent at the EU Directorate.Between 1991 and 1995 he served as Third later Second Secretary (Political / Press and Public Affairs) in Havana.From 1990 to 1991 he was Desk Officer in the FCO’s First Gulf War Emergency Unit.Between 1988 and 1990 he worked as Desk Officer in the FCO in the Anti Drugs Cooperation Department.
Jonathan holds an MA in law from Oxford University, and he is a
member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He speaks
English, French, Spanish and Hungarian. He is married to Angela Susan
Knott and has one daughter and two sons.

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