OSCE Mission to Serbia

Resignation from the OSCE – entry into Ukraine.

I have resigned from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Serbia so that I can speak & act freely against Putin Russia’s war in Ukraine, without the constraints of working in an international diplomatic organisation

And my friends, family & colleagues know that I am not very good at speaking diplomatically anyway. Russia is destroying the values of peace, stability, security, democracy & economic progress on which the OSCE is based.

I have this morning [today] crossed into Ukraine to go and see my friends. I won’t see all of my friends this trip but delayed birthday drinks (from the Summer) with some of them. And as usual if anyone wants to practice English I’m happy to talk. I’m the British guy from Liverpool with an Irish name driving a Serbian car

My visit is for solidarity. I have no time for anyone’s nationalism or national myths or ideology (or God/s given ethnic land) but I do care that people should be able to freely choose how to live their lives without being invaded by a brutal tinpot dictator.

Stopping the war, defeating Russia and its allies, is the most important thing in Europe now. It is necessary so that the democratic & whole World can face the giant challenges of environmental problems, food security and livelihoods for all that we must solve

So F*ck Putin I’m going to have a beer with my friends

Posted on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Monday 7 November, Posted here, Wednesday 16 November from Zaporizhzhia, where I arrived on Tuesday 8 November.

I am posting impressions from my visit to Ukraine on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Some pictures from my current work

More self publicity (X3), a lot less serious than the War, but for people who know me who want to see what I’m up to (when not photographed in bars, and in reality not spending hours on Zoom meetings or administration):

This youth group in Preševo (a small mostly Albanian populated town in the very south of Serbia) are one I promote a lot. I feature in couple of pictures on their new website with our OSCE Mission to Serbia Ambassador. https://livrit.org/

Also in one picture currently on the front page of the Mission website at present from the rural municipality of Medvedja, the day the war started. https://www.osce.org/mission-to-serbia/513268 …

Not quite the lead story 😉 – It is one of the 24 scrolling photos on the front page at present, three of which are from my town (one of the others features my colleague Iljasa, translating at a press conference, on the left) https://www.osce.org/mission-to-serbia

Finally, there’s a bad but funny photo of me on this nice story (in Serbian Cyrillic) about interns Arbnor and Aulona from this region that OSCE arranged to be placed with the official Government Coordination Body that is responsible for liaison between Belgrade and local Municipalities here.
http://www.kt.gov.rs/…/arbnor-i-auljona-staziranje-u…/
My sister made a very funny comment: “I approve of the Ukrainian colours Kiron, but otherwise that tie is somewhat bizarre. A 1970s throwback.”