The Lord Paddy Ashdown (PAF) Conference 27th February, 2021

Video Synopsis with timestamps below

At times nostalgic, thoughtful and certainly inspiring, the PAF conference was held on what would have been the late Lord Ashdown’s 80^th birthday.

The conference, attended by more than a hundred people via zoom, was organized in 2 halves: the first session, hosted by the late Robert Woodthorpe-Browne had 9 speakers including his widow, Lady Ashdown, who all paid tribute to Paddy’s memory and legacy.  The second session moderated by Jasmine Mrso, international officer of Nasa Stranka of BiH, was with 6 other young people on the topic of “The Future of the Balkans Belong to the Youth”.

Recorded on the 27th February, 2021

Session 1 – speakers (and timestamp on the video recording)

Lady Jane Ashdown (3:58)

Sir Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats (7:08)

Ian Patrick, former Private Secretary to Lord Ashdown, UN High Representative (13:24)

Joe Ingram, former Director of the World Bank managing support for the reconstruction of BiH (24:58)

Hasib Salkić, President of Liberal Democrat Party of BiH (36:32)

Haris Silajdžić, former member of Presidency of BiH (42:57)

Dr Bisera Turković, Minister of Foreign Affairs BiH (54:43)

Baroness Sal Brinton, former President of the Liberal Democrats (57:06)

Matthew Field, Ambassador to Sarajevo (1:08:46)

Lord John Alderdice (1:22:57)   

Session 2

Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MEP from Bulgaria (2:41:08)

Antoaneta Asenova – President of LYMEC (2:55:06)

Natan Albahari – International officer of Free Citizen Movement Serbia (3:07:10)

Danijal Hadžović – President of Liberal Forum of Bosnia (please note his 3 recommendations for future of BiH) (3:30:19)

Dr Imad Ahmed – Research Fellow, UCL with slides on impact of Climate Change (3:46:21)

Adi Škaljić – Boris Divkovic Foundation (4:04:40)  

Lord Alderdice, the last and key-note speaker of the first session commented on Paddy’s close ties with Northern Ireland and on how it may have played a part in forging his interest in working in conflict zones and in peace mediation.  Paddy grew up in Ulster between ages 4 and 11, having moved from Delhi where he was born when his father was a British Indian Army officer.   Many of the other speakers also spoke to his work as High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002-2006) including his private secretary, Ian Patrick, Hasib Salkić, former President of the Liberal Democrat Party of BiH, Haris Silajdžić, former member of the Presidency of BiH and Matthew Field, Ambassador to Sarajevo.  Danijal Hadžović in the second session recalled being in his teens when Paddy was in Bosnia, and affirmed the widely-held view that Paddy was the most effective leader that Bosnia ever had. There is today a statue of Paddy that stands proud in Sarajevo.       

Paddy, a former Royal Marine, Intelligence officer in the UK security service, leader of the Liberal Democrats and author of numerous books, was no doubt a larger-than-life character.  Everyone who had known him would have their own anecdote and memory of him.  Whilst he was a liberal, he managed to reach across parties and counted both Tony Blair and John Major amongst his friends. 

Perhaps like many of us, you would feel honored to be able to carry on his work through PAF, the “think and action tank” that bears his name.  

The conference has been recorded for posterity – a marathon 4+ hours – but feel free to dip in to hear from the various guests as per the indicative time on the youtube recording.

Merlene Toh Emerson.