Members of Polish medical missions in Italy and the US as well as representatives of the State Fire Service involved in organising humanitarian convoys to countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have been awarded the Bene Merito distinction. Today’s ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was attended by Deputy Ministers Paweł Jabłoński and Marcin Przydacz.

On 1 October, Undersecretary of State at the Polish MFA Marcin Przydacz held a videoconference with Thijs van der Plas, Director-General for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The officials discussed the current situation in Belarus. Actions aimed at Belarus will be among key topics on the agenda of the European Council on 1 and 2 October 2020, where Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will present the Economic Plan for Democratic Belarus, a joint initiative of the Visegrad Group countries.

European support for Africa in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, food security, negotiating the ACP-EU agreement, and developments in Belarus were the main topics of today’s informal video-conference of the EU ministers for development cooperation.

“The purpose of the Minister’s visit to Poland and of our talks is to strengthen bilateral cooperation in its political, economic and military dimensions,” stressed Minister Rau during a meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who is on a visit to Poland. The visit takes place in a year marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Polish-Saudi diplomatic relations, during the Saudi presidency of the G20, and is part of the growing intensity of Poland’s relations with Arab countries (including Persian Gulf states).

“Poland and Hungary can count on each other in these difficult times,” emphasized Minister Rau during his talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó. “We sustained our intensive dialogue even amidst the toughest restrictions imposed due to the pandemic,” stressed the chief of Polish diplomacy.

As part of the High-Level Week opening the 75th jubilee session of the United Nations General Assembly, Minister Zbigniew Rau took part in an online foreign ministers’ meeting of the Alliance for Multilateralism.

On 1 October 2020, Polish diplomacy will be strengthened by a new ambassadorial post - Poland’s Consul General in Montreal Dariusz Wiśniewski will become Permanent Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

During an annual session of the General Conference in Vienna, representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Member States elected Poland to the Board of Governors for 2020-2022.

Polish and Czech deputy ministers responsible for economic diplomacy held bilateral consultations in Prague on 23-24 September. The key issues under discussion included enhanced bilateral economic cooperation, development of economic diplomacy activities, priorities of the Polish presidency of the Visegrad Group, implementation of infrastructure projects in Central Europe, and the future of the Three Seas Initiative. The Polish MFA was represented by Undersecretary of State Paweł Jabłoński.