Serving as HM Ambassador in Belgrade from 2001-2003 I had the task of advising London on how best to handle the aspirations of demands in Montenegro for independence from Serbia. At the time European capitals were just getting over the NATO bombing campaign aimed at ending Milosevic’s appalling rule over Kosovo. So […]
One of the most piquant features of the British Parliamentary voting system is that it is so well established and so well analysed that pundits can predict with a high degree of accuracy which MPs will lose their seats for any given % swing of opinion against the government at […]
Montenegro has not followed the line of most EU countries and recognised its neighbour Kosovo as an independent state. Why not? Because doing so is "not high on its list of priorities": Everyone understands our positive distanced and considered views on Kosovo independence. Odd, that. Positive? Hard to say – […]
From this vast distance it is not easy to follow the procedural manoeuvres of the majestic and variegated Canadian ‘Human Rights’ industry in its pursuit of Mark Steyn. But Mark and Maclean’s magazine looks to have won one handy free speech victory, with the Canadian Human Rights Commission dropping its case against them: […]
Watch, and be astounded. Various MEPs all of a sudden become shy of the media – when they are filmed at 0700 hrs, apparently improperly claiming their daily expenses… Which reminded me of George Harrison’s classic, Beware of Darkness: Watch out now, take careBeware of greedy leadersThey take you where […]
A powerful TV programme in Poland has aroused a lot of interest there. Trzech Kumpli ("Three Mates") describes the fates of three men who were students in communist-era Krakow in the 1970s. One became a poet murdered seemingly by the communist police. One under the Kaczynski twins’ leadership became the […]
Back from Brussels, hearing lots of theories about whether the Lisbon Treaty is dead, alive or in some sort of suspended animation. The core options appear to be these: brutalise/bribe the Irish into submitting mainly via various ‘Declarations’ aimed at meeting most of their identifiable concerns, allowing a further and […]
In all the clamour about saving energy, what energy systems and savings in fact make a difference on a scale that matters? Fascinating analysis here: Our conclusion: if we covered the windiest 10 per cent of the country with windmills, we might be able to generate half of the energy […]
This is a sharp account of one serious Russian view on Russian energy issues: Mr Chubais has spent the past 10 years masterminding the break-up of UES, the Russian electricity monopoly, which will cease to exist next week after selling off its generators in the biggest liberalisation of Vladimir Putin’s presidency. His […]
Daniel Finkelstein in the Times also takes up the charge against John Simpson’s wretched analysis of the latest news from Zimbabwe. And Lord Ashdown argues the case for intervening by force in Zimbabwe to head off a possible genocide. But, comes the shriek, that would violate Zimbabwe’s sovereignty! Recently I was a […]
