Poland in the Philippines

Europe is facing an existential challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. The invisible enemy has broken through our defence lines, inflicting a cruel suffering first on northern Italy, then on all of your beautiful country, followed by Spain, and now the whole continent. The news from Italy fill with deep sorrow over each death, but they also give us hope that a better tomorrow can come.

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.

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.

“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.

Since April 1st 2020 national visa applications are accepted to a limited extent until the situation stabilizes.

The following information concerns Poles staying abroad and willing to return home.

Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Richard Albright and Secretary of State at the Brazilian MFA Fabio Marzano chaired a meeting of the Warsaw Process Working Group on Humanitarian Issues and Refugees which was held on 4-6 February in Brasilia.

On 4 February, Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, together with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil Ernesto Araújo and US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Albright, opened a meeting of the Humanitarian Issues and Refugees Working Group of the Warsaw Process.

The President of Poland on the 75th Anniversary of Liberation of the Nazi German Death Camp KL Auschwitz.

We would like to kindly inform that as of 6th January 2020 the Embassy of Poland in Manila will begin to carry out the consular services excluding the visa cases.