On 10 April 2010, a special TU-154M plane with the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and the First Lady Maria Kaczyńska on board took off from Warsaw to Smolensk. On that very day the members of the official delegation were to participate in the ceremonies taking place in the Katyn War Cemetery, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the crime committed there. The aircraft carried 96 people, including members of the highest state authorities, representatives of various social circles and religious denominations, high-ranking military commanders and the plane’s crew. All the flight passengers died in the air disaster which took place during landing at the airport near Smolensk.

Due to the state of epidemic, we advise against all travel. However, if you are planning to travel to Poland for important reasons, we would like to remind you that due to COVID-19, controls at the border with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania have been temporarily reintroduced. Polish borders can be crossed only at designated points, and the increased traffic has led to longer waiting time at the border. When planning your journey, we urge you to choose less frequented border crossing points, if possible.

“Visegrad cooperation is of particular importance at a time of pandemic. The Visegrad Group countries are doing well fighting the threat and they should share their experiences in the fight against coronavirus, including with our immediate neighbours in the Eastern Partnership,” Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said after a video conference on Wednesday with his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

“I deeply believe that mutual help and solidarity will guide us through the current crisis. This is a test for our European solidarity,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz during the inauguration of assistance programme for Italy, which was held on the premises of Polfa Tarchomin pharmaceutical plant. Today, 7 April 2020, a load of medical supplies for Italian health service was shipped from Warsaw.

“Poland and Hungary are reliable partners, also during the difficult moments in history. Mutual support is fundamental for our actions to combat the pandemic to be efficient,” said Minister Jacek Czaputowicz on Tuesday during a video conference with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó

After three weeks of intense efforts to return Polish citizens to their homeland, the #LOTdoDomu programme was completed on Sunday, 5 April 2020. As part of this initiative, in just 22 days, the Polish LOT airlines organised 388 special charter flights which brought over 55,000 people safely home.

“We believe that the EU needs an ambitious approach to its 2021-2027 budget to make sure it is able to provide adequate support for member states affected by the pandemic’s economic fallout,” Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council video conference that was held today.

- NATO member states should share their experiences in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and help each other, because no one will solve this problem alone. NATO civil and military structures can play a greater role in responding to the current epidemiological threat - said Minister Jacek Czaputowicz during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, held in the form of a video conference.

Today (31 March 2020) in the morning, an aircraft arrived at Warsaw airport carrying a range of medical products ordered by government institutions as well as medical supplies donated by Chinese authorities to help Poland combat COVID-19.