Why we do social media
I recently attended the annual diplomatic reception for ambassadors given by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. Result: a minor social media storm. Why? And why was this a good thing? The...
View Article#ViennaMemories #5: the wall clock
Where did the clock come from? How old is it? I would like to know. My Vienna wall-clock, bought broken at the Naschmarkt flea market in Vienna in 1985, was the inspiration for my #ViennaMemories...
View ArticleMozart and Fintech
The room is crammed with over 40 financial services companies. In the next few hours, 27 British Fintech companies and 15 Austrian financial institutions will hold over 120 meetings to explore...
View ArticleWhat is Wassenaar? And why does it matter?
A terrorist organisation tries to buy military technology from Country A. But Country A refuses to sell. What is to stop the organisation from going to Country B and buying there? Welcome to the...
View Article“The Hare with Amber Eyes” and other Vienna treasures
What are the greatest treasures in Vienna? What can you see? And what is lost? I was privileged recently to attend a press conference at the Jewish Museum in Vienna at which Viktor de Waal and museum...
View ArticleTrade and comparative advantage: why Harry Kane doesn’t mow his own lawn
As a British diplomat in Austria (I am Second Secretary for Economic and EU issues), I have found one of the most surprising things about Austrian politics is how people feel about trade. Austria’s...
View Article#ViennaMemories #6: three slow glasses
The three liqueur glasses are sub-standard in every way. Each is slightly different from the other. The thickness and shape of the glass curves are irregular. Two are chipped. I treasure them. The...
View Article“Russia and the West: a new Cold War? Who is responsible?”
If you have followed recent discussion over the case of the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury using a military grade nerve agent, you may find interesting the programme “Russia...
View Article#ViennaMemories #7: the “Robox” blotter
If you watch period dramas such as “The Crown”, where characters write letters with fountain pens, you may see on desks a lozenge-shaped or a semi-circular blotter. Their purpose was to absorb excess...
View ArticleFour future women ambassadors?
‘So,’ I say, ‘what do you think you might to do for a career?’ ‘Diplomat,’ says the first young woman. ‘Yeah, diplomat,’ the second says. ‘Us, too,’ say the third and fourth members of the group. As...
View ArticleWhat a drug lab looks like – in Vienna
The crystals are colourless and brittle. They could be an illegal narcotic substance. How to find out? Here at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Vienna we work closely with the UN office on...
View ArticleMotor City UK, Motor City Austria and the Jaguar i-Pace
The car is bright red – and silent. It is, perhaps, the best electric car in the world. I recently had the privilege to attend the launch of the new Jaguar i-Pace in Graz, a couple of hours south of...
View ArticleMeeting Hugo Portisch – again
The guest of honour takes up his place at the podium. The room is hushed. He begins to speak. I was recently invited to attend the award of the honorary citizenship of the city of Vienna to Dr Hugo...
View ArticleAustrian EU Presidency: Service Announcement
A medium-sized1 EU country takes on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during a busy period in Europe. In addition to Brexit, migration and asylum policy are at the forefront, along...
View ArticleHorse-punching not required: a Viennese salon at the Jewish Museum
My blog of last September described the “Charles Stewart Conversations”, our regular series of salons here at the British Embassy in Vienna. I wrote how we decided to name the salon after Lord Charles...
View ArticlePrince Metternich, the UK, Austria and the Western Balkans
Guest blog by Jeremy Wilmshurst, Second Secretary (Political) There’s a saying in Vienna, ascribed to 19th Century Austrian statesman Prince Metternich, that ‘the Balkans begins on Rennweg’. The latter...
View Article#Diplomatsforequality – LGBTI rights are human rights
A vast parade of colourful floats and marchers streams around the Ringstrasse in Vienna. More than 200,000 people watch and participate. Towards the front of the spectacle, 200 people – including 15...
View ArticleBrexit and the rights of UK citizens in Austria Q&A
A team from the Department for Exiting the EU visited Vienna recently to talk to UK ex-pats and the Austrian government about Brexit. During the visit, and afterwards on the Embassy’s social media...
View ArticleWhy #UKTECHNIGHT is exciting and why you should care about it
How many tech geniuses can you squeeze into a single room? We tried this experiment recently when our Department for International Trade (DIT) team in Austria hosted #UKTECHNIGHT at the British Embassy...
View ArticleWhen Austrian German is the best?
The quote that “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language” is often attributed to Sir Winston Churchill. A version I hear often in Vienna is “nothing unites Austrians and...
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