25th November 2020
Vienna, Austria
I was working in the personnel departments of the FCO[1] when Judith Macgregor[2], head of my section, put her head around the door and beckoned. An officer named John Everard[2] had resigned from his post as second secretary (political) and press officer at the British Embassy in Vienna, she said. They needed a German speaker, […]
Read more on Diplomatic lessons 2, 1983-87: languages change everything | Reply (4)
24th November 2020
Vienna, Austria
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART IN THIS Q&A. We have now responded to your comments here and on facebook. You can find a document with all of the questions and answers here. The British Embassy Vienna is running an online Q&A session on our embassy facebook page on Thursday 26 November. At midday on […]
Read more on Embassy Q&A for UK nationals in Austria – Thursday 26 November 2020 | Reply (66)
23rd October 2020
Vienna, Austria
I’m delivering an online apprenticeship talk to staff in Vienna when someone asks me if I’ve thought of summarising everything I’ve learned in my 41-year career. ‘No,’ I say. They urge me to think again. So here is the first of several blogs seeking to distil a few lessons. Comments welcome. 3 October 1979 My […]
Read more on Diplomatic lessons 1, 1979-83: Don’t judge a book by its cover | Reply
15th October 2020
Vienna, Austria
On 29 September the British Embassy Vienna invited young people from all over Austria to join a Debate Workshop. Youth from Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia as well as Vienna came together, separated by appropriate “baby elephants” (Austria’s 1.5m rule) to practice their skills. Trainers from Debattierklub Vienna, Joy Edobor and Miri Muntean, introduced […]
Read more on Debating: today’s most important skill? | Reply
17th September 2020
Vienna, Austria
Diplomats from the British Embassy are off to an important meeting in Vienna. The Ringstrasse, as so often, is gridlocked. No problem for our diplomats, who hop on an embassy bike and arrive not only on time, but in style. Our embassy bikes mean that British diplomats in Vienna make many journeys by bike which […]
Read more on Why the British Embassy in Vienna is proud to be green | Reply
11th August 2020
Vienna, Austria
The UK education sector is one of the most popular destinations for international – EU and non-EU – students to study abroad. Worldwide, only the US attracts larger numbers. Academics like working in the UK, too: in 2017-18, 20% of staff working at UK higher education institutions were international, with almost 60% of that 20% […]
Read more on Good news for students in Austria and the UK | Reply (1)
5th August 2020
Vienna, Austria
“When we started to develop our vaccine candidate we needed to push; now there is a massive pull from governments around the world,” says Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Vienna-based pharmaceutical company Valneva, during my visit to his HQ at the Vienna Bio Center. Work is intense at Valneva when we visit. The Austro-French vaccine company […]
Read more on COVID-19 vaccine developed in Austria – produced in Scotland | Reply
3rd July 2020
Vienna, Austria
UPDATE: The questions and answers (including those from Facebook) can be downloaded here. Do you have questions about how the UK’s exit from the EU affects you? The embassy is running an online Q&A session on Monday 6 July. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team here and colleagues in London have continued to work closely […]
Read more on Online Q&A for UK nationals in Austria – Monday 6 July | Reply (101)
3rd June 2020
Vienna, Austria
The freshly oiled crank purrs like a sewing machine. The sun has come out from behind the clouds, casting a silverish gleam on the Danube. There is a mild breeze. Hundreds of people are cycling on Vienna’s 21 kilometre-long Danube island and I am one of them. To me this is pure happiness. Cycling is […]
Read more on Cycling in Vienna: diplomatic, healthy and green | Reply
27th May 2020
Vienna, Austria
“The Ministry of Works may have ideas about office accommodation. I doubt whether it would be possible to extend the existing offices by building in the courtyard. Failing this, it might be possible to secure the adjoining house in the Lustig Prean Gasse (No.10), which is now divided into flats and which would be sufficiently […]
Read more on How “The adjoining house at the Lustig Prean Gasse” became the British Embassy | Reply (2)
