On Friday, the chief of Polish diplomacy was received by President of the Republic of Iceland Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson. Minister Czaputowicz raised the situation of Poles living in Iceland. He thanked the Icelandic side for creating friendly living conditions for Poles. He emphasized that Poland attaches great importance to the issues of the Polish community and Poles living abroad. In this context, he called for the continuation of the actions taken thus far by the Icelandic authorities to broaden access to Polish language learning as a mother tongue at local schools. Iceland’s President highlighted the contribution that Poles make to the Icelandic society, and highly praised the activities of the Polish Carmelite sisters.

Minister Jacek Czaputowicz also held bilateral consultations with his counterpart, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson. Both ministers expressed their satisfaction with the very good state of Polish-Icelandic relations. They also discussed the situation of Poles in Iceland. Minister Czaputowicz stressed the growing dynamism of Poland - Iceland relations, as evidenced by the recent raise in the rank of head of the Polish mission in Iceland. Since January 2018, the Polish Embassy in Reykjavík has been headed by an ambassador (until then, it was headed by a chargé d’affaires).

“Our countries have a great potential for moving forward our trade and investments. We welcome Iceland’s interest in the Polish shipbuilding,” said the minister. He went on to note that Poland highly appreciates the possibilities of direct cooperation offered by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area, to which Iceland contributes.

 The ministers also discussed cooperation in the framework of European policy and regional forums, such as the Council of the Baltic Sea States, and under the Arctic policy. They highlighted the involvement of both countries in regional cooperation in the Nordic-Baltic area. Minister Czaputowicz expressed his satisfaction with closer cooperation between the Visegrad Group, Nordic and Baltic states.

On Saturday, Minister Jacek Czaputowicz met with the members of the local Polish community and the Polish Carmelite nuns from a convent in Hafnarfjörður.

 

MFA Press Office

 

Photo: Tymon Markowski / MFA