Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of UK in Ukraine
27th June 2012
In praise of Brits in Ukraine
A tall tree shades the audience from the sun. An orchestra and choir wait in silence. A huge derelict building, windows broken and decorated with (fake) radiation warning signs, towers over us. The conductor raises his baton and exquisite baroque music rings out.
I am at “Master Klass”, a cultural centre and language school in central Kiev. The performance of Henry Purcell’s 1691 opera “King Arthur” is one of several cultural events I have been to there including concerts and a film club.
The unassuming Brits (you know who you are!) behind Master Klass and the opera are amongst the innumerable UK citizens I have met during four years in Ukraine. As well as the business people about whom I’ve often written they include technical assistance experts, language centre managers and teachers, artists, charity workers, architects and construction experts (including those working on the new Chornobyl Safe Confinement), accountants, newspaper proprietors and journalists, lawyers and practically anyone else you can think of. They can be found in Kyiv, Cherkassy, Donetsk, Lviv, Odesa and other towns and cities large and small. Many of them, like the people at Master Klass, are contributing to the community in their spare time, doing everything from organising charity balls and Scottish country dancing to promoting children’s rugby. It’s a great thing to see.
It has been a pleasure for me to work with a lively and vibrant community which has contributed so much to Ukrainian society. Good luck to all of you.
Thank you for all your work during your time in Ukraine, and especially in bringing the British community together as much as possible. I am sorry you are leaving, but wish you all the best in your new post, wherever it may be.
The deep and underlying thought was, and I think I speak up for all the Brit comm’ here, well done Leigh. Ambassadors come and go in every country and we thought you done a good job here. And we hope the new one can continue where you left off. Though personally i’m still very very disappointed in the help i’m trying to get from the UKBA here (for the past mth now). They seem to be a machine outfit, not an organisation with a personal touch. Good luck in your new position.