{"id":200884,"date":"2026-08-22T11:33:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T08:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T11:33:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T08:33:03","slug":"head-of-uk-diplomatic-mission-in-belarus-posts-first-video-address","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/","title":{"rendered":"Head of UK diplomatic mission in Belarus posts first video address"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longhurst_mid_britanii.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(fcdo.gov.uk)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August 22,<\/strong> <strong><em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> William Longhurst, the new charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, has posted his first video address, thanking Belarusians for their hospitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He recorded the address in Russian, noting that he knows only two words in Belarusian: <em>pryvitannie<\/em> (hello) and <em>dziakuj<\/em> (thank you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, he posted a photo carousel on the embassy\u2019s Facebook accounts sharing some details of his biography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longhurst was born in 1967 in Chelmsford, where Guglielmo Marconi opened the world\u2019s first wireless factory in 1898. His father worked as an engineer at a factory linked to Marconi\u2019s company throughout his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He attended the University of Sheffield. He said his family were very surprised when he joined the Foreign Office in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He enjoys tennis and golf, plays the cello and piano and supports London\u2019s Arsenal FC. Longhurst speaks Russian, Japanese, Korean, French, Serbian and German. Before coming to Belarus, he lived in South Korea, Japan, the United States, Serbia, Cambodia and Switzerland. His favorite cuisine is Japanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Longhurst presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d on July 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 2014 to 2018, he served as the UK ambassador to Cambodia. Before his appointment to Belarus, he was deputy head of mission in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ryzhenkov_velikobritania_mid.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">UK Charge d\u2019Affaires William Longhurst presents his credentials to Belarus\u2019 foreign minister<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">August 1, Pozirk. William Longhurst, charge d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Maksim Ry\u017eanko\u016d on July 31. The UK downgraded its diplomatic presence in Belarus to charge d\u2019affaires after the departure &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/198152\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 22, Pozirk. William Longhurst, the new charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, has posted his first video address, thanking Belarusians for their hospitality. He recorded the address in Russian, noting that he knows only two words in Belarusian: pryvitannie (hello) and dziakuj (thank you). Earlier, he posted a photo carousel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":192092,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-200884","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Head of UK diplomatic mission in Belarus posts first video address | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 22, Pozirk. William Longhurst, the new charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, has posted his first video address, thanking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Head of UK diplomatic mission in Belarus posts first video address | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 22, Pozirk. William Longhurst, the new charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires en titre at the UK embassy in Minsk, has posted his first video address, thanking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-22T08:33:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longhurst_mid_britanii.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\"},\"headline\":\"Head of UK diplomatic mission in Belarus posts first video address\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-22T08:33:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-22T08:33:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\"},\"wordCount\":214,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longhurst_mid_britanii.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/\",\"name\":\"Head of UK diplomatic mission in Belarus posts first video address | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/200884\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Longhurst_mid_britanii.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-22T08:33:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-22T08:33:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"August 22, Pozirk. 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