On Wednesday 13th , in Musselburgh, a new Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Scotland was officially declared open.  The Czech Republic's last Honorary Consul, Dr. Paul Millar, retired recently after 20 plus years of service to the Czech community in Scotland, and his honorary consulate in Edinburgh closed its doors.  

Mrs. Veronika MacLeod, has been appointed the new Honorary Consul, she will be based by the river in the centre of Musselburgh on Eskside West at 14 Eskside West, Musselburgh,EH21 6PL. The opening hours of the Consulate will be on Thursday from 10:00 to 12:00, starting in November.

The tape was cut by the Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Smolek and local MSP  Colin Beattie in front of a small crowd. The Czech Consul General from Manchester, Ivo Losman, and Pavel Duchoň, head of the consular department at the Embassy in London, also joined the ceremony.

Later in the day, Deputy Minister Smolek and the Consuls met over lunch with Lord Provost, Frank Ross and Scott Wightman, Scottish Government’s Director of External Affairs, to discuss different topics of Czech - Scottish cooperation.  

Veronika Macleod has already made a very positive impact on the Czech expat community by running an informative website Skotsko.co.uk and opening and managing three schools for Czech/Scottish children, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, with the help of her co-director Radka Petersen who will also be her consular backup.

Mrs. Macleod has been living in Scotland for over 17 years since the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, however she has first arrived to Scotland already during her university studies.

The premises of the consulate were provided by Mr. Den Mather, her former student of Czech language at the University of Edinburgh. Mr. Mather’s late wife Dr. Helena Hart was a Czech scientist, who emigrated to Scotland after the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Consulate will be open in her memory.