Professor Hans-Gert Pöttering (President of the European Parliament) Cherie Blair, Rt HonTony Blair MP, Rachel Szczekala (Derby Envoy to Osnabrück) and Boris Pistorius (Lord Mayor of Osnabrück)

And the story behind the photograph:

Mr and Mrs Blair were in Berlin over the weekend of 23-25 March to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the EU. Professor Pöttering (who is from Bad Iburg near Osnabrück) invited them to Osnabrück for a short reception and an evening meal in La Vie restaurant (recently voted the 8th best restaurant in Germany). For a few weeks before their arrival I was involved in a lot of the background planning such as interpreting for people from the Embassy and people from Downing Street on Security matters at the airport, town hall and restaurant which was a fantastic experience for me.

Then on Sunday 25 March at around 6pm, Mr and Mrs Blair arrived in Osnabrück to a crowd of people waving Union Jacks. It was my job to accompany Mrs Blair as she met the people and to interpret where needed. They both spent a lot of time shaking hands and waving to the people who had been waiting.

Then inside the historic town hall the official reception took place in the Hall of Peace in front of around 150 people including representatives of the British forces in Osnabrück, local politicians and the former Lord Mayor of Osnabrück Hans-Jürgen Fip (who received an honorary OBE before Christmas for services to Anglo-German relations). First Lord Mayor Pistorius welcomed the guests and gave a speech where he spoke about the ties between the UK and Germany, laying particular emphasis on the town twinning with Derby and also the British army bases situated in Osnabrück. Then Professor Pöttering said a few words followed by a short speech by Mr Blair. Mr and Mrs Blair then signed the Golden Book (for VIP visitors to Osnabrück) and then mingled with guests (Mrs Blair once again accompanied by myself). I then got the chance to introduce myself to the Prime Minister and explained how I was the Envoy from Derby and told him a little about my duties and about the twinning of the two cities.

Mr Blair, Mr Pistorius and Professor Pöttering then held a small press conference with local journalists and following this an exclusive group of 14 went to the restaurant for an evening meal before the Prime Minister and his wife flew back to London.
Although it was a very short visit it was definitely an amazing experience and opportunity for myself and a big highlight of my year as Envoy. Being able to be a part of the event and playing a small role in organising it is definitely something I wont forget.

Rachel Szczekala
Derby Envoy 2006/07