This year’s forum focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international cooperation on regional, European and global level. Poland was represented by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister Zbigniew Rau.

During the foreign ministers’ panel, the top Polish diplomat presented our opinion on the cooperation to date between the EU Member States in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panellists discussed the challenges of combating its negative social and economic impact as well as the conclusions to be drawn from the pandemic by both individual states and the European Union as a whole.

On the sidelines of the Forum, Minister Zbigniew Rau met with his Slovenian counterpart Anže Logar. The two ministers discussed bilateral political and economic cooperation, as well as joint actions within the EU, NATO and other international organisations. The Polish minister stressed that Warsaw hopes to see further close cooperation with Prime Minister Janez Janša’s government, which proved effective during recent European Council summit when the new Multiannual Financial Framework and the European Recovery Instrument were negotiated. The ministers also talked about the situation in the EU’s close neighbourhood. “We believe that Belarusian authorities should start dialogue with the representatives of the society as soon as possible to solve this political crisis,” said Minister Rau and added that “We have voiced our firm support for the European aspirations of the Western Balkan states and underlined the need to launch practically the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia as quickly as possible. The ministers undertook to further strengthen bilateral relations, also in the context Slovenia’s preparations for the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which starts on 1 July 2021.

 While in Slovenia, Minister Zbigniew Rau met with the foreign ministers of Hungary and the Czech Republic, Péter Szijjártó and Tomáš Petříček respectively.

***

The Bled Strategic Forum – the largest international conference in Slovenia and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. The event has been organised annually since 2006 by Slovenian government in cooperation with the Centre for European Perspective, a Slovenian government think-tank. This year’s 15th edition “Challenges and Opportunities in the Post COVID–19 World. Neighbours – Regions – Global World: Partners or Rivals?” focused on the post-pandemic challenges. Besides Minister Zbigniew Rau and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the event was attended by the prime ministers of Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Hungary, the president of Serbia, the foreign ministers of Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and remotely by the prime minister of Italy and the managing director of the IMF.

 

MFA Press Office

 

Photo: Sebastian Indra
video: Gabriel Piętka