Poland in Libya

Historical view 

After the lifting of international sanctions, Warsaw again became interested in cooperating with Tripoli. A certain revival of bilateral relations could be observed after 2003. In 2005, Prime Minister M. Belka paid an official visit to Libya.

The main purpose of the visit was, among other things, to finally settle the issue of mutual debts dating back to the 1980s. Prime Minister M. Belka met with M. Gaddafi and the head of the Libyan government Shukri Ghanem. He also handed over a letter from President A. Kwaśniewski inviting the Libyan leader to visit Poland. PM Belka emphasized that his visit ended almost two decades of stagnation in political and economic relations between the two countries. The Polish PM was accompanied by a large delegation composed of representatives of the ministry of finance, economy, foreign affairs, defence the National Bank of Poland, and a group of businessmen representing the oil, chemical, arms and construction industries. Both countries signed then an agreement against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Poland was the first country to conclude such an agreement with Libya. The document was a tribute to Libya's suspension of the production of weapons of mass destruction. The Polish authorities offered Tripoli assistance in transforming chemical plants and in eliminating chemical weapons. In 2006, an agreement was signed between the Republic of Poland and the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on the final settlement of mutual financial obligations. It referred to the Polish People's Republic period and concerned financial regulations, mainly between the National Bank of Poland and the Central Bank of Libya. In 2010, Deputy Prime Minister W. Pawlak also visited Tripoli. He chaired the Polish delegation to the Third EU-Africa Summit.

After the outbreak of the Libyan revolution, the activity of the Polish Embassy in Tripoli was suspended on March 3, 2011, and then resumed at the end of June 2011, in temporary premises in Benghazi.

During the revolution against Col. Gaddafi, Poland did not directly participate in the "coalition of volunteers" - military operation initiated by the international community. Instead, Poland was a member of the "Contact Group for Libya" established in London. Participating in the summit of leaders of states and governments in Paris (September 1, 2011), Poland became a member of the "Group of Friends of Libya". 21 officers were submitted to participate in two NATO Unified Protector operation commands.

In May 2011, Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Sikorski was the first chief of diplomacy of the member state of the "Contact Group for Libya", who visited this country during the uprising. The trip was undertaken on the eve of Poland’s taking over the presidency of the EU Council and expressed political support for the vision of the future of Libya proposed by the Libyan opposition, which assumed the construction of a modern, democratic state and society. At that time, the Polish authorities withdrew recognition for the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Col. M. Gaddafi, and they recognized the National Transitional Council, which formed in Benghazi, as the only legitimate contact partner.

Although Poland did not participate in the armed intervention in Libya in 2011, it became involved in medical and humanitarian aid for this country. During the revolution, Poland contributed PLN 1.5 mln to UNHCR and UNICEF. Humanitarian assistance was also provided by Senate Speaker B. Borusewicz during his visit to the Tunisian-Libyan border, in May 2011. In the period from October 3 to December 2, 2011, a Polish medical mission operated in Misrata. The mission was financed with PLN 1 mln coming from the general reserve of the Council of Ministers.

The authorities of the Republic of Poland expressed their readiness to share the experiences of the transformation period with societies that overthrew authoritarian regimes. Therefore, at the invitation of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Electoral Commission, a Libyan delegation observed parliamentary elections that took place in Poland on October 9, 2011. Other representatives of Libya's new democratic authorities took part in the conference "The EU and its Southern Neighbourhood - new perspectives on mutual cooperation in a changing environment" organized in Warsaw (December 1-2, 2011). Chairman of the National Transitional Council, M. Abdul Jalil was a special guest at European Development Days in Warsaw, December 16, 2011.

In 2012, a group of 25 representatives of the Libyan legislative and executive authorities participated in Strategic Economic Needs and Security Exercise (SENSE) training in Warsaw. The program was repeated in 2013 for a group of 50 representatives of the Libyan administration, and political and opinion-forming circles, including members of the General National Congress. They participated in the training organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted in Warsaw in September 2013 by the National School of Public Administration.

A group of Libyan parliamentarians representing the Foreign Affairs Committee of the General National Congress held working consultations in Warsaw in 2013 with the Polish-Libyan parliamentary team. Speaker of the Polish parliament, E. Kopacz, addressed to her Libyan counterpart an official letter suggesting the establishment of the Libyan-Polish parliamentary group, in the frame of the General National Congress.

On August 1, 2014, as a result of the outbreak of the ongoing civil war, the activity of the Polish diplomatic mission in Tripoli was suspended. It has been resumed in the temporary premises in Tunis. The Polish embassy in Cairo has been entrusted with consular activities.

On March 30 and 31, 2017, the Libyan Foreign Minister, Mohamed Taher Siala (Government of National Accord - GNA) paid a two-day visit to Poland. During the visit, he met with Prime Minister B. Szydło, Minister of Foreign Affairs, W. Waszczykowski, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, K. Szczerski, Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Development, P. Chorąży and Deputy Speaker of the Polish parliament, R. Terlecki. During the Polish-Libyan ministerial talks, Poland expressed its support for the internal stability, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya and its institutions under the "Libyan Political Agreement" (LPA), concluded in the Moroccan city of Skhirat in 2015.

In 2019, the Polish chargé d’affaires participated in the delegation of the EU member states ambassadors to Tripoli and Benghazi. In 2020, Poland donated to UNICEF 20 thousand EUR in support of a project focused on the educational programme with regard to a risk caused by unexploded ordnance and anti-personnel mines in Libya. At the Polish initiative, some of the funding (EUR 20 mln out of EUR 35 mln)  subscribed by the Visegrad Group (V4) under the EU Trust Fund for Africa for project implementation Support to Integrated Border and Migration Management (IBM) in Libya – Second phase has been transferred to the project related to combat negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 1970s and 1980s, about 150,000 Poles were working in Libya, employed within Libyan economic projects or in the health service sector (at that time, approximately 15,000 Polish citizens were employed annually in Libya).

In the first twenty years of the leadership of Col. M. Gaddafi, various Polish companies were active in Libya. On the other hand, the Libyans used to come to Poland for studies and training, to raise their qualification levels. This took place under agreements regulating bilateral relations. The partnership with the Polish People's Republic was part of a broader context of Tripoli's cooperation with the countries of the Eastern Bloc. In 1980, due to the significant number of Poles in Libya, an agreement on cooperation on employment conditions of Polish citizens performing work in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was concluded.

Trade exchange between the two countries has suffered dramatically, as a result of the civil war that started in 2011. At that time, the balance of trade exchange decreased by 65% ​​( from USD 37 mln in 2010 to USD 12.5 mln). The gradual reconstruction of state structures contributed to the increase in the value of Polish exports, which amounted to USD 49 mln in 2012. A year later, the value of mutual turnover doubled, exceeding USD 113 mln, whilst Poland’s exports to Libya reached USD 93 mln. In the following years, however, a clear downward trend has emerged. Since 2018, a gradual increase in Polish exports to Libya has been recorded. According to preliminary data of Statistics Poland (GUS) for 2019, the value of bilateral trade in goods - which basically comes down to Polish exports - amounted to 72.6 mln USD (in 2018 it was 51.7 mln USD). Polish exports to Libya amounted to USD 72.4 mln, while imports reached USD 0.2 mln.

Over the past years, the primary commodities in Polish exports to Libya have been ready-made foodstuffs, delivery vehicles, tractors and their components, mechanical and electrical devices, car components and animal products. Besides, the top export items included: medicines, dairy products, baby products, cosmetics, plastic coverings and cocoa-free products. The imports included small amounts of ethylene polymers and metallurgical industry products, as well as symbolic in value common metal products - zinc waste and scrap.

In 2013, the deputy minister of foreign affairs of the State of Libya paid a visit to Poland. He took part in the Economic Forum "Poland - Africa" ​​in the city of Łódź. From 7 until 9 May 2013, the undersecretary of state for technical affairs from the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the president of Libyan Oil & Gas took part in the 2nd edition of the Africa-Central Europe Cooperation Forum in the city of Katowice.

In 2013, PGNiG (Polish oil & gas company) resumed hydrocarbon exploration works in southern Libya, in the Murzuq Basin. The company has been operating in Libya since 2008 through a special purpose entity - Polish Oil and Gas Company Libya BV, investing in this country a total amount of USD 150 mln. According to an official announcement of the Libyan state-owned oil company - National Oil Company (NOC), the Polish company discovered significant natural gas resources, justifying the launch of the commercial exploitation of the field. Until now, PGNIG (POGC) maintains its representative office in Tripoli. However, the safety conditions do not allow for the continuation of its works, and NOC, in agreement with the Polish side, keeps the project frozen due to the clause of so-called “force majeure”.

After the revolution of 2011, until the outbreak of the conflict in July 2014, small contracts were continuously carried out by the Polish companies representing the geodesy industry - Geokart and MGGP SA. In the industrial sector (technical services), the Kobor company (crane overhauls repairs) was also active. The Oil and Gas Institute from Krakow was undergoing the registration process. The Naval Shipyard in Gdynia and WZM Siemianowice submitted renovation offers. Polimex-Mostostal built breakwaters in one of the three fishing ports (in Sirte), and in 2011 carried out construction works in another port (in Garabulli), The company also declared the resumption of previously signed contracts.

Trade missions of the Polish Chamber of Commerce were organised in Libya in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009. As a result of these visits, cooperation agreements with the Chambers of Commerce in Misrata and Benghazi were concluded. In January 2005, during the visit of the PM M. Belka to Libya, an cooperation agreement between the Polish Chamber of Commerce and the Libyan Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture was signed. In January 2013, already in “Free Libya” this institution presented to the Polish Chamber of Commerce a letter expressing the will to re-establish direct contacts.

For the last time, Polish companies took part in the fairs in Libya in February 2009. At that time, an information and promotion stand was organized at the "Oil & Gas and Infrastructure Libya 2009" fair - the main exhibition event for the energy and infrastructure sector in Libya. The planned participation of construction sector companies from the region of Wielkopolska in the "Libya Build" fair (Tripoli, May 2013) did not take place, due to the unstable internal situation and the low-security level. According to NBP data as at the end of 2018, there are no Libyan investments in Poland.

Polish archaeologists have been present in Libya since 1998. Since 2001, the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw has been cooperating with the Libyan Department of Antiquities. Pursuant to the agreement concluded in 2003, Poles were granted the exclusive right to conduct excavations in ancient Ptolemais (near Benghazi), and in 2010 they began organising so-called summer workshops for Libyan archaeologists. The decision of the Libyan Department of Antiquities to entrust Polish scientists with the project of developing the corpus of ancient mosaics also turned out to be prestigious for Poland. New finds (figures and mosaics) became for the Polish archaeologists an impulse to organize in December 2008 a photo exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. After the outbreak of the civil war in Libya, the University of Warsaw intervened in UNESCO on the issue of Libyan monuments protection, including the Polish archaeological site in Ptolemais.

In 2005, the Libyan-Polish Friendship Association was established. Its members are mainly Libyans, graduates from Polish universities and academies. The number of Libyan graduates from Polish high schools and universities was reaching then around 2,000 people.

The same year, at the invitation of the writer Ibrahim Al-Koni, in 2005 prof. J. Danecki visited Libya, taking part in a scientific meeting of Arabist philologists. Libyan professors participated twice in similar sessions in Poland. In April 2007, a delegation of the authorities of the University of Warsaw, headed by its rector prof. K. Chałasińska-Macukow, paid a visit to Libya. A letter of intent was signed with the Al Fatah University in Tripoli.

In the post-revolutionary period, both sides have declared their interest in intensifying commercial cooperation in the field of higher education, despite the lack of an appropriate legal basis, both: in terms of sending Libyan students to study in Poland and in creating educational opportunities in Libya through joint-ventures projects, e.g. by opening branches of Polish universities and academies.

In June 2012, prof. Grzegorz Kołodko visited the universities of Tripoli and Misrata, where he met with academics and students. In Tripoli, he held talks with the governor of the Libyan Central Bank, as well as with the minister and employees of the Ministry of Planning.