UK at the OSCE

23rd November 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Diplomatic Notes and Instruments: Blog for St Cecilia’s Day

A colleague in the Balkans recently said “tell me about music and diplomacy”. Sitting in Vienna on a cold, grey Sunday that is the day of St Cecilia patron saint of music, seems as good a time as any. A flurry of academic writing has yet to persuade me of music’s capacity ‘to model international […]

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4th November 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Frozen? Avoiding Another Protracted Conflict in the Post-Soviet Space

That media headlines are focused elsewhere, particularly Syria, makes it all the more important not to lose sight of the conflict on our own threshold in eastern Ukraine. The reduction in violence and destruction in the Donbas is welcome, giving a chance to restore services and make the region safer for the people who live […]

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21st October 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Two Hundred Years in Search of a Cup of Tea: Diplomacy 1815-2015

Each week I take the UK seat at the OSCE Permanent Council in the Hofburg, imposing former Hapsburg imperial seat, where I recently read, the 1815 Congress of Vienna ‘danced the night away, 200 years ago, shaping post-Napoleonic Europe almost as an afterthought’. History records an impressive social whirl around the lengthy negotiations. 201 years […]

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13th October 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Rainy Day Resilience: the OSCE and European Security

Some weeks ago, I retweeted a thoughtful, well-informed article that suggested that the OSCE might have greatest relevance providing ‘resilience for a rainy day’. Resilience has to be built up, just as the human body creates antibodies to ward off disease and infection. In healthcare, resilience does not just mean Accident and Emergency services; the […]

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6th October 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Postcards from the Western Balkans

Remember the days when the tiny closed state of Albania was known from Orwellian Radio Tirana broadcasts picked up on a crackly short wave radio? Although things are very different now Albania remains a relatively rare destination for British visitors, so on my first visit I made sure to find postcards for my family. My […]

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28th September 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Postcard from Warsaw: A Very Human Dimension

Since I first saw a local Polish emigre folk dance group as a child, Poland has held great sense of romance for me.  More recently, cycling and skiing along mountain border paths through fairy tale forests added to the magic.  Warsaw though has always been for me a city of buildings. Buildings stretching along broad avenues as […]

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15th September 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

Everyday Democracy

15 September is the International Day of Democracy. Democracy is of course too important to think about only once a year – everyone should have a fair say in how their lives are governed. But for anyone who has grown up in an established democracy, it is easy to take for granted the right to […]

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9th September 2015

Sian MacLeod

by Sian MacLeod

UK Ambassador to Serbia

A Clear Head and Sense of Perspective

In August I arrived in a new country, new city, new home and new job. For diplomats moving is familiar but still brings upheaval. I remember my trepidation over 25 years ago at Helsinki station waiting for the train to Moscow and the start of my diplomatic career. I had little idea of the world […]

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