In 2019 Poland marks 20th anniversary of its membership in NATO as well as 15th anniversary of its membership in the EU. This year Poland will also mark 100 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Norway. What are Poland’s foreign and security policy priorities in the time to come? And how are Poland’s relations with Norway going to develop in years to come?
Polish perception of security situation in Europe will be the main topic of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Jacek Czaputowicz’s talk when he visits NUPI on 8 May.
Poland is an important partner of Norway – a NATO ally, a country with almost 100 000 of its citizens living in Norway, the most important export market for seafood from Norway and a country that is about to embark on a long-term strategic energy cooperation with Norway.
On 14 March 2019 Minister Czaputowicz delivered a programme speech where he outlined main goals of the Polish foreign policy. He paid special attention to Poland’s relations with the EU and NATO, underlining the importance of these two organisations in realization of the country’s foreign and security policy. Also Norway was mentioned in this context as a country that is to help Poland diversify its energy supplies by joining Poland and Denmark in the Baltic Pipe project. Poland’s strategic relationship with the United States was presented as the cornerstone of Poland’s security policy, but Minister Czaputowicz discussed also Poland’s relations with key EU countries, such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom as well as Poland’s participation in various forms of regional cooperation. Russia was mentioned no less than 16 times in Minister Czaputowicz’s speech which reflects the importance of the Russian factor in Polish thinking about foreign and security policy.
Jacek Czaputowicz has been Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs since January 2018. He is a Doctor of Political Science and an Associate Professor of Humanities. During communist era in Poland he was an active member of antiregime opposition, for which he was imprisoned on several occasions.
The event will be moderated by NUPI Director Ulf Sverdrup.
