current affairs
Diplomacy
Goodbye to all that
UK embassy
Peter Bateman left Luxembourg at the end of March after three and a half years’ service as British ambassador.
The Honourable Alice Walpole has been appointed Peter Bateman’s successor as British ambassador to Luxembourg. While Mr. Bateman goes to Azerbaijan, Ms. Walpole, a single mother of 47 with six children, will arrive in Luxembourg following a tour of duty in Basra, Iraq, where she served as consulgeneral and head of post. She is due to arrive in Luxembourg in August. Deputy head of mission, Amanda Ross McDowell, will act as chargé d’affaires ad interim. Walpole joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1985. Her overseas missions have included two spells in Brussels and two in New York, as well as a posting in Dar es Salaam. She says she is delighted and honoured to be taking up the posting, her first as ambassador. “I very much look forward to working closely with the government of Luxembourg on a wide range of issues of mutual interest--both in a bilateral context and also in the multilateral fora, such as the EU, UN and NATO, which both our countries value so highly. My family and I are much looking forward to getting to know at first hand this delightful country and its people, with whom the UK has such a warm and enduring relationship.”
Olivier Minaire
U.S. Army
Alice Walpole appointed
Peter Bateman: bound for Baku
DR: Compared to previous posting Bolivia, and your next port of call, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg must seem rather safe and homely? PB: Luxembourg is certainly a safe and comfortable place to live, something my wife, Andrea, and I have much appreciated. It has a huge range of attractions for an expatriate including world-class culture, shopping and food, all on a human scale. But variety is the spice of life. Although we shall miss Luxembourg and our many friends, we also look forward to the new challenges ahead. DR: You worked closely with the British Chamber of Commerce during your tenure. Were you impressed by its range of activities? PB: Indeed, any British ambassador has promotion of trade and investment links with his or her host country at the top of the agenda. So, I am delighted to be able to pay tribute to the wide range of work the British Chamber takes on and the help they have given me in my responsibilities.
It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work so closely with it. Its activity is broad in the extreme, ranging from formal conferences with expert speakers through business oriented workshops to more social, but no less useful, events such as golf days, dances and Christmas lunches (at which I have often been the after-meal cabaret). I regret that I shall not be here to celebrate with them a successful 20th anniversary year in 2012. DR: What have you learned from your time in Luxembourg? What will be your lasting impressions of the country? PB: I have learned a lot during my time here. Not least Luxembourgish which, sadly, will not be much use in Azerbaijan, to the best of my knowledge. But also what makes a small prosperous country at the heart of Europe tick and how it sees the outside world. We have been struck by just how cosmopolitan society is here. An example to us all. Please continue to cherish these elements that make LuxemDR bourg so special.
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31.03.2011 12:19:36 Uhr