The ceremony of exchanging diplomatic notes was held at the Polish Embassy in Wellington in attendance of the Republic of Poland’s chargé d’affaires ad interim Patryk Błaszczak and Cook Islands’ High Commissioner to New Zealand Kairangi Samuela.

The exchange of notes implements Resolution no. 124 of the Council of Ministers of 21 October 2024 on the establishment of diplomatic and consular relations between the Republic of Poland and the Cook Islands.

The establishment of diplomatic relations will allow our countries to enhance bilateral cooperation, for example in the areas of green transition, sustainable development, blue economy, digitalisation, agriculture, and education. It will also enable closer collaboration within various international organisations the Cook Islands is a member of, including: International Maritime Organisation, World Health Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and International Labour Organisation (ILO).

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Among the island countries of the Pacific region, the Republic of Poland has already established and maintains diplomatic relations with: the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (since 1978), the Republic of Vanuatu (since 1986), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (since 1991), the Independent State of Samoa (since 2012), the Republic of Palau (since 2012), Solomon Islands (since 2012), the Republic of Fiji (since 2014), the Republic of Nauru (since 2014), Tuvalu (since 2015), the Federated States of Micronesia (since 2015), the Republic of Kiribati (since 2015), and the Kingdom of Tonga (since 2016).