Charles Crawford (diplomat)

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Former British diplomat Charles Crawford was born in 1954. Educated at St Albans School, St John's College, Oxford and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; he also passed Part II Bar Exams to qualify as a Barrister and is a member of Lincoln's Inn.

He never practised as a Barrister, instead joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1979. His diplomatic career featured extensive policy work in London and at Post on the transition in central and eastern Europe from communism to democratic pluralism. He is one of the leading diplomatic experts on the problems of former Yugoslavia; he was awarded the CMG in 1998 for his work in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During his FCO career he has been known for an unconventional style. In Belgrade he borrowed two kangaroos from a local zoo for a commercial reception. He attracted local controversy in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Podgorica for his high-profile work in support of democratic forces and against ICTY war crimes suspects and organised crime. In 2003 he intervened on behalf of a large group of Newcastle United supporters, in Belgrade for a match against Partizan Belgrade; after the local police refused to let the fans leave their hotel, he invited them all to his Residence. When Ambassador in Poland in 2005 an e-mail sent by him to the FCO about the EU Budget negotiations was leaked to the Sunday Times, generating much interest (positive and negative) in the UK, Poland and more widely. In 2006 he organised a launch event for the new Mini featuring a Mini lifted by crane into the first floor Residence reception room.

He left Warsaw in September 2007 and the FCO at the end of 2007 to start a new private career.

[edit] Career

1979-80: FCO: Desk Officer for Indonesia
1980-81: Serbo-Croat language training
1981-84: British Embassy Belgrade
1984-85: FCO: Desk Officer for Air Services (notably UK/US air services)
1985-87: FCO: Speechwriter
1987-91: British Embassy Cape Town/Pretoria
1991-93: FCO: Soviet then Eastern Department (UK policy towards the Soviet Union, then Russia and CIS)
1993-96: British Embassy Moscow
1996-98: HM Ambassador to Sarajevo
1998-99: Mid-career development fellowship at Harvard University (Weatherhead Center for International Affairs)
1999-00: FCO: Deputy Political Director, then Director South-Eastern Europe
2001-03: HM Ambassador to Belgrade
2003-07: HM Ambassador to Warsaw
2007: Left FCO to start a private career