As the current Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Minister Zbigniew Rau highlighted the importance Poland will attach to supporting populations that suffer the consequences of crises and armed conflicts on a daily basis.

On behalf of Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, who is the OSCE current Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak held a joint phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

Solemn Mass will be celebrated at Warsaw’s Archcathedral of St John the Baptist at 7 p.m. on 20 January 2022 for Francysk Skaryna (1490–1540), outstanding Belarusian humanist, translator, printer, citizen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, subject of the Jagiellons, and a figure remembered with reverence by the Catholic Church.

“Warsaw has always supported, and will continue to support, a democratic, strong, and sovereign Belarus, as well as all Belarusian circles acting for that benefit,” highlighted Minister Zbigniew Rau during a meeting with Pavel Latushka.

On 18 January, Deputy Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk took part in a presentation of a stamp folder in memory of the Ładoś Group’s activity, issued as a joint endeavour of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Poczta Polska, Poland’s public postal service operator. The event coincided with the closing day of the Pilecki Institute’s exhibition “Passports for Life”. Also present at the ceremony were President Tomasz Zdzikot of Poczta Polska SA, Deputy Director Wojciech Kozłowski of the Pilecki Institute, and Jakub Kumoch, Secretary of State and Head of the International Policy Bureau at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.

Once again in recent weeks, the Polish foreign minister and US secretary of state spoke about the security situation in Europe and the tensions over Ukraine.

‘The Kremlin must be given a clear message that the European Union is ready to provide a determined response in the form of severe sanctions in the event of escalation on Russia’s part,’ said the deputy chief of Polish diplomacy, Marcin Przydacz, during EU foreign ministers’ informal meeting in the Gymnich format on 13–14 January in Brest (France).

‘We need to reinvigorate the debate about European security. Let us start a process that will help us to uphold the Helsinki Conference principles in full conformity with international law,’ said Poland’s head of diplomacy in the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, marking the official beginning of the country’s chairmanship of the OSCE on 1 January.

On 13 January, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau will take part in a session of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to officially present the agenda and priorities of Poland’s OSCE Chairmanship.