Poland in the UN

Speaking at the Human Rights Council, Minister Rau strongly condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people. “Today, we cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of millions of innocent people in Ukraine. We expect the Human Rights Council and the international community as a whole to live up to their responsibilities,” said the chief of Polish diplomacy. Minister Rau further stated that we should ask ourselves whether Russia should continue to be a member of the Human Rights Council. He went on to point to the role of Belarus as a state which is assisting the aggressor and to the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus, including the situation of the Polish minority there.

In his address at the Conference on Disarmament, Foreign Minister Rau also focused on Russian aggression against Ukraine. “Rebuilding mutual trust and understanding based on the key principles of diplomacy and co-responsibility will be extremely difficult,” he said at the Conference, a body whose goal is to build global peace and security through disarmament negotiations.

The meetings with the High Commissioner for Refugees and heads of the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration focused on prospects for humanitarian cooperation in connection with the wave of refugees currently arriving in Poland from Ukraine. Speaking to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the head of the Polish MFA emphasised the role of the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner in the establishment and operation of mechanisms for investigating human rights violations.