Polish and Dutch relations ‘excellent’

Radek Sikorski (right) with Uri Rosenthal at press conference, Thursday: photo - PAP/ Bartłomiej Zborowski

"We are partners in the European Union with similar economic potential,” Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said after a meeting with his Dutch counterpart Uri Rosenthal in Warsaw.

“What gives us special reason to be satisfied is that the Netherlands is the largest investor in Poland, and Poland has made investments [in the Netherlands] of more than 2 billion euros," Sikorski said.

When asked about the situation of Polish workers in the Netherlands – after reports of cars with Polish number plates being vandalized and a controversial web site being set up by Dutch right wing MP Geert Wilders asking for information on “crime-breaking” immigrants from Poland and other central and eastern European nations – the Dutch foreign minister said special programmes were in place to improve the environment for Poles and others.

"The Dutch government has a policy against employment agencies that flout the law. And there is a nationwide plan to improve the housing situation for workers. There are currently eight pilot projects on this matter," Minister Rosenthal said at a joint press conference.

Sikorski said that although Poles and other new EU nation migrants in the Netherlands have created an estimated 0.3 percent to the annual GDP of the nation, “we would prefer that this value was developed in Poland. If someone has failed in the Netherlands, we encourage them to try again in their own country".

The Dutch and Polish foreign ministers also discussed the future EU budget, the situation in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and the forthcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

The Netherlands is currently under a caretaker government after the ruling coalition collapsed in April. Elections will take place on 12 September. (pg)