Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

30th April 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

The multilayered world of (dis)information

disinformation

Disinformation has become one of the defining words of our age. It is not a new phenomenon. But its present scale is unprecedented, helped by round the clock broadcasting and social media. There is a shorter word for it: lies. But ‘disinformation’ perhaps better conveys the sense of deliberate corrupting of the media environment with […]

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20th April 2022 Skopje, North Macedonia

Richard Welham

HM Revenue & Customs Western Balkans Regional Training Coordinator

Celebrating Western Balkans Regional cooperation and diversity at high profile UK Events

The British Embassy Skopje based Conflict Stability & Security Funded (CSSF) HMRC Western Balkans Training Team have enjoyed a successful (if hectic) start to their 2022 programme of events. The team, supported in no small part by respective Fiscal Crime Liaison Officers (FCLOs) and Country Based Staff throughout the region have worked extremely hard to […]

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19th April 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

This is What Human Tragedy Looks Like

We Stand With Ukraine

This joint article by Ambassadors Rafal Perl (Poland), Giles Norman (Canada) and Sian MacLeod (UK) first appeared in Serbian in ‘Nedeljnik’ on 14 April 2022. This week Protestant and Catholic churches around the world mark the darkest, most solemn days in the Christian year followed by celebration of Easter and hope for the future.  Next […]

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11th April 2022

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by UK in the Netherlands

British Embassy in the Netherlands

UK in NL at the Invictus Games in The Hague

The Invictus Games have finally come to The Hague! The British Embassy in The Hague is delighted to welcome Team UK to the Netherlands, and we wish them the best of luck. From 16-22 April, we’ll also be present at the Games! Come visit our tent in the Zuiderpark, where you can meet British businesses developing […]

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8th April 2022 Geneva, Switzerland

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by Bob Last

Head, UK Mission Political and Human Rights Team

It was 20 years ago today…

On 8 April 2002, I started working at the UK Mission to the UN.  I’d had no diplomatic experience. At all. And I’d never been to a UN meeting. I’d only ever been to Geneva once – for my interview, which I started off by spilling water all over the table (I’ve always had a […]

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29th March 2022 Geneva, Switzerland

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by Aidan Liddle

UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament

Disarmament blog: an extraordinary month

It’s just over a month now since the Russian armed forces launched their unprovoked, premeditated and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s attack is an assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an egregious violation of the United Nations Charter. Its  use of indiscriminate force against innocent civilians is barbaric, and amounts to war crimes. […]

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28th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

The myth of russophobia

shostakovich pasternak

People around the world have watched in horror and disbelief as Russian military hardware wreaks death and destruction across Ukraine. Moscow’s decision to launch a brutal and bloody war is illegal and unjustified. It is unsurprising that the world has moved quickly to condemn the invasion, and actions such as targeting of maternity hospitals and […]

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24th March 2022

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by Matt Field

British Diplomat

The Marvellous Miss Irby

“Here lies the body of Adeline Paulina Irby A great benefactress Of the Servian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina” Educator. Writer. Humanitarian. Suffragist. I will start by admitting that I did not know the name Adeline Paulina Irby before I began this job. In fact, when I picked up the shiny first edition of ‘Žene BiH’, it […]

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23rd March 2022

Vicky Ford MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean)

66th Commission on the Status of Women: my trip to the UN

Last week, I had the honour of attending the 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations, New York. CSW is the biggest annual forum for defending and promoting women and girls’ rights around the world. The UK was well represented at CSW, with a delegation of inspirational women including the […]

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18th March 2022 Belgrade, Serbia

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Turning back the clock: the Kremlin’s war on truth

Novaya Gazeta

A Russian-British journalist friend, speaking on air this week, observed that ‘violence and propaganda go hand in hand’. He suggested that people accept propaganda and lies because of fear, and because the truth is too terrible to contemplate. Perhaps that helps explain the attempts of Russian representatives who had no part in the decision, to […]

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