On 25-26 October 2021, MFA’s Secretary of State Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk visited Athens. At the beginning, he held political consultations with Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs of the Hellenic Republic Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. The officials discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views on current migration-related challenges, EU’s eastern neighbourhood, enlargement policy and the future of Europe.

On 21-24 October, Head of the Foreign Service Arkady Rzegocki was in Rome on an official visit. The aim of the visit was to talk to heads of HR departments at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as well as to representatives of Italian and Vatican diplomacies about diplomat training programmes and related areas of potential cooperation.

In response to Iran’s needs, Poland handed over 1 million COVID-19 vaccines. This donation is a token of vaccine solidarity with Iranians, with whom Poland has enjoyed centuries of good relations.

An amendment to the Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration of 13 March 2021 on temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at certain border crossing points (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 435, as amended, hereinafter “MSWiA Regulation”) is coming into force on 16 October 2021.

Situation in the Persian Gulf, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua as well as preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit were the major points of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday. Together with Lithuania and Latvia, Poland outlined the situation at the EU’s border with Belarus.

Today marks the 172nd anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s death. In a special video, Secretary of State Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk plays the Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64 no. 1 on the piano and talks about the links between the great Polish composer’s music and diplomacy, encouraging the viewers to watch and follow closely the final stage of the competition.

On Sunday, 17 October 2021, Professor John Rink, an authority on the works of Fryderyk Chopin, and a Chopin Piano Competition juror, received the Bene Merito honorary distinction during a ceremony at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw. The ceremony was attended by Head of the Foreign Service Arkady Rzegocki, Director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute Artur Szklener, as well as the jurors of the 18th Chopin Piano Competition and distinguished guests from the world of culture.

On October 13-14 at the meeting organized by the US National Security Council on the Counter-Ransomware Initiative a wide circle of countries discussed how to fight more effectively the phenomenon of ransomware.

On 14 October, the Polish Institute in Moscow and the Moscow Memorial Society organised the screening of Agnieszka Holland’s Mr Jones (a 2019 film about the Soviet genocide against Ukraine, which won the Golden Lions at the Gdynia Film Festival).

“From the very beginning, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has remained one of the OSCE’s fundamental institutions, renowned for its support to the participating states,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk as he opened a conference to mark the Office’s 30th anniversary.