Opening the conference, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau noted that our country’s image has improved significantly over the past year. Poland is now perceived as a country that plays a crucial role in ensuring security, not only in our part of Europe.

The top Polish diplomat stated that Western countries, when faced with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, have demonstrated unity and solidarity. He added that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has grown even stronger and become more important than ever before. In this context, the head of the Polish MFA stressed that the Kremlin has not achieved any of its strategic goals, while NATO’s cooperation with Ukraine has intensified in an unprecedented way. Minister Rau drew attention to the strong determination shown by the countries that oppose Russia’s aggression and to the political, military, and humanitarian assistance they provide to the resistant Ukraine. At the same time he underscored that Poland and other countries in our region have proved themselves to be reliable and staunch allies.

 

During their meeting, Minister Rau and Minister Biruta discussed the main issues concerning economic cooperation between the two countries in agricultural production, energy, mechanical engineering, transport, production of agricultural machinery and equipment for the food industry, construction, and IT industries. Also raised was cooperation in education, cybersecurity, and green technologies.

 

We agreed with Minister Biruta that the current level of trade does not fully reflect the potential of our bilateral relationship and expressed our hope for a rapid change in this trend - said the head of the Polish MFA.

Commenting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Minister Rau said that Rwanda, like Poland, considers the aggression a violation of international law and in particular the UN Charter.

The presence of the foreign minister of Rwanda, one of the African continent’s fastest developing countries, provided an opportunity to share insights with Polish diplomats on the main challenges facing Rwanda and Africa as a whole, including in particular the growing disinformation measures currently targeting African societies.

Also on the conference agenda were meetings with President Andrzej Duda, Speaker of the Sejm Elżbieta Witek, Speaker of the Senate Tomasz Grodzki, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

 

MFA Press Office