Transatlantic relations more important than ever: Polish FM
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
10.12.2016 11:26
Relations between Europe and America are more important than ever now that the global balance of power has changed and “revisionist and imperialist” tendencies are rearing their heads, Poland’s foreign minister has said.
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. Photo: EPA/JENS BUETTNER
“At such a time it would be unwise to create new divisions in the democratic Western world," Witold Waszczykowski said during a lecture in the German city of Hamburg on Friday.
"We believe that Europe still needs America, and it is also our role to remind the Americans that they still need Europe,” Waszczykowski said in his lecture on the role of Poland in Europe.
The lecture, followed by an international debate hosted by Germany’s Koerber Foundation, attracted more than 150 prominent politicians, businessmen and other decision makers.
The primary item on Waszczykowski's agenda in Hamburg was to attend a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
On the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, Waszczykowski on Thursday talked with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin and also met with the foreign ministers of Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Montenegro and Azerbaijan, according to the Polish foreign ministry.
Around 50 foreign ministers from OSCE member countries – among them U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov - gathered in Hamburg to discuss the organisation's activities during the last year and talk about its future agenda.
Founded in 1995, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the world’s largest regional security organisation. It brings together 57 nations from Europe, North America and Asia. (str/pk)
Source: PAP