The talks with Swedish partners covered Russian aggression against Ukraine, eastern policy with a special focus on Belarus, security issues, including Sweden’s (and Finland’s) accession process to NATO, energy policy, and strengthening bilateral cooperation. The Swedish side presented its plans for the country’s presidency of the EU Council starting on 1 January 2023. 

On 24 August, Ukraine’s national holiday, Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk held talks with Ukraine’s Ambassador to Sweden Andrii Plakhotniuk, whom he ensured of Warsaw’s long-term solidarity with Kyiv. Together the officials opened the exhibition “Mom, I don’t want war!!!” It is a Polish-Ukrainian project based on archived materials which include sketches by Polish children in 1946. Stored at the Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, at the Ministry of Education from 1945 to 1966, the drawings give an account of their experiences of the Second World War and German occupation in 1939-1945. The other part features contemporary pictures by Ukrainian children depicting the current war in their country. During the inauguration ceremony, Secretary of State Szynkowski vel Sęk underlined that Polish diplomatic missions will present the exhibition at the most prominent locations to prevent the world from forgetting about the war since nobody — children in particular — should suffer from it. 

Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk appreciated the Polish-Swedish partnership, founded on a similar sensitivity to eastern issues and a shared view on the threats in the Baltic Sea region.

“As authors of the Eastern Partnership concept we feel a special responsibility to support Ukraine in its fight for itself and the values of the free world,” emphasised the deputy minister. Both countries have been cooperating to provide military, humanitarian, and political assistance, as evidenced by the joint Donors’ Conference held in Warsaw on 5 May by Prime Ministers M. Morawiecki and M. Andersson. Sweden’s presidency of the EU Council, succeeding the Czech one, will be a good opportunity to take efforts to advocate Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

The Swedish interlocutors acknowledged the need to collect further evidence of Russia’s war crimes, for which justice must be delivered at any cost. The officials discussed the prospects for another package of sanctions against Russia, including visa restrictions for Russian citizens, suspending the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement, and cutting Russia off from Western technologies. In this context, the deputy minister handed the Poland-prepared non-paper “Decoupling Russia from European technologies” and called on Sweden to support the ideas contained there at the EU. The talks also covered the increasing impact of disinformation as a weapon, which is heavily used by Moscow. The deputy minister stressed that “we must responsibly and reliably inform societies about indirect effects of the war waged by Putin, which include increased prices of energy carriers and inflation. It is necessary to keep societies rallied around the concept of aiding Ukraine,” he added.

The secretary of state at the Polish MFA spoke with his partners about Sweden’s accession process to NATO. “Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO is great news for Poland. Together, we are more effective,” he said. He also recalled the unequivocal and cross-party support of Polish government and parliament to allow Stockholm and Helsinki to join NATO.

During his stay in Sweden, Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk met with the local Polish community at the Polish Embassy, and laid flowers at Haga Norra catholic cemetery in Solna near Stockholm, a resting place for many distinguished Poles. 

 

Łukasz Jasina

Rzecznik Prasowy MSZ