It is with a great sense of loss that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bids farewell to Krzysztof Skubiszewski – the first Foreign Minister of the free Poland.

Celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Vietnam were held on February 5th 2010 in Warsaw. The celebrations were hosted by MFA Secretary of State Jan Borkowski and attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Poland Nguyen Van Xuong.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that Poland has sent 38 short-term observers under the international observation mission to Ukraine’s presidential election runoff, due to take place on February 7th 2010. The international election observers have been registered by Kiev’s Central Election Commission. The first round of Ukraine’s elections, which was held on January 17th 2010, was observed by 25 Foreign Ministry observers.

Polish-Chinese political consultations at Vice Foreign Minister level were held in Warsaw on February 1st 2010 between MFA Under-Secretary of State Paweł Wojciechowski and Deputy Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Zhijun.

A meeting of Weimar Triangle Ministers for European Affairs was held in Warsaw on February 1st 2010. The meeting was attended by MFA Secretary of State for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz, Germany’s Minister of State for European Affairs Werner Hoyer, and France’s Secretary of State for the EU Pierre Lellouche.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, designated by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, represented Poland at the 29 January World Economic Forum in Davos.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski headed the Polish delegation to the London international conference on Afghanistan on 28 January 2010. The conference was attended by 77 delegations representing states, international organisations and NGOs.

On Wednesday, January 27th, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski delivered the opening address at the Madrid seminar “Future of the Eastern Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities”. Minister Sikorski’s speech was followed by a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Poland, the Kingdom of Spain and the Czech Republic.

A ceremony of the signing of Grant Agreements with the Afghan NGO ‘AIRO’ was held in the Japanese Embassy in Kabul on 25 January 2010. The Agreements cover the implementation of outreach projects for the Ghazni province.

MFA Secretary for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz chaired the Polish delegation to the Brussels session of General Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council on 25 January 2010. At the General Affairs Council delegates focused on the Spanish Presidency programme and the forthcoming events on the European agenda, including the European Council’s special meeting dedicated to the EU economic situation, scheduled for 11 February 2010.