We celebrated the Queen's official birthday in Belgrade on 16 June, with our traditional garden party. Having spent the previous week worrying about possible rain, in the end the afternoon was the hottest on record so far this year, and our concern was more that some people might wilt in the heat. We had almost 900 guests, from every area of Serbia's public life - Government Ministers, mayors, other officials, business people, the local leaders of the main religious groups, journalists, cultural figures, NGO representatives, other diplomats - all the people we work with during the year. In our 40 minutes on the receiving line, my wife and I shook (or so I am told) some 700 hands, before we passed on the hand-shaking task to my Deputy and his wife, and got free to circulate. The press were out in force, and I explained to them, as I do every year, why our Queen has an official birthday - it goes back to King Edward VII, whose real birthday was in November but who liked parades, so an 'official' birthday in June was the obvious only answer.
I also explained that we see this annual event as our chance to say a big thank you to all our friends in Serbia - we are building ever closer cooperation in many areas, not just on big issues such as Serbia's EU integration process, but also many smaller but important things that most people don't know about (though if you read this blog regularly, you will know about many of them by now). As the sun went down, it got a little cooler, and as the waiters bustled around with their trays, people relaxed. We ended with both national anthems, and everyone seemed to drift off happily. Job done, until next year!
Any Comments? - in Serbian or in English?
Posted at 19:10 17 June 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth | Comments[5]
- Share this with:
-
-
-
-
-
I took a visitor from London - the International Director of the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency, Mr Rob Wainwright - to the Interior Ministry yesterday afternoon, to meet the Minister of the Interior, Mr Ivica Dacic, and to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. This will further enhance the capabilities of both countries to exchange information and to cooperate to increase the risk to criminals who choose to commit organised crime in Serbia, the UK and beyond.
Photo: FoNet News Agency
It is an unfortunate fact of life that British and Serbian criminals work across the world in such areas as drug trafficking, illegal immigration, the illicit firearms trade and other forms of organised criminality. If we are to fight their activities successfully, we must work very closely together. By its nature, it's not the sort of work we can talk about much in public, but this was a chance for a brief moment in front of the cameras.
Posted at 13:32 03 March 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth | Comments[4]
- Share this with:
-
-
-
-
-
“Special Care for Special Needs”
I went this morning to witness the signature of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the UK-based Charity, Save the Children. The Memorandum covers the implementation of a project called "Special Care for Special Needs", and is intended to improve the quality of life and developmental opportunities for children with special needs in residential care here in Serbia. Minister Ljajic signed for Serbia. A representative of the European Commission was also present, as much of the external funding will come through the Commission.
The particular goal of this project is to support the Ministry's efforts to provide foster-parenting, rather than institutional care, for children in Serbia with disabilities. As Minister Ljajic made clear, there has been good progress already, with many more such children living with foster-parents than a few years ago, but of course everyone would like to see more.
This is an area that we have also supported bilaterally, as I mentioned in my 'Highland Fling' blog entry below - the money we raised from the 'Burns Night' charity event that my wife organised last year, some €46,000, went towards this too. 'Burns Night' is coming around again later this month, and our preparations for this year's event are well under way. We hope to raise even more money this year, again for Save the Children's work here. It won't be easy, with everyone worrying about the economic situation, but charities need support most when times are hard.
Posted at 21:53 13 January 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth | Comments[3]
- Share this with:
-
-
-
-
-
and if you want to know more about Burns, try this, from his most famous poem, 'To a Mouse', of 1785:
"Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!"
Translation, anyone?
Posted at 08:57 10 December 2008 by Stephen Wordsworth | Comments[1]
- Share this with:
-
-
-
-
-