Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Poland
Newsline: Czechs embassy opens in Armenia
The Czech Republic has opened its diplomatic mission in Armenia in the building of the Polish embassy in Yerevan. The Czech embassy in Yerevan will have only one employee, charge d’affaires Petr Mikyska. Formally it will be subjected to the Czech embassy in Tbilisi in the neighbouring Georgia. Given the limited capacity of the new mission in Yerevan, Armenia will continue to fall under the consular office in Tbilisi. Short-term visas for Czechs would be issued by the consular office of the Polish embassy. Armenia opened its diplomatic mission in Prague in 2011. Armenia is one of the six former Soviet republics participating in the Eastern Partnership project launched in 2009. The Czech Foreign Ministry said the new mission in Yerevan is the first example of Czech-Polish cooperation in this respect. It said it was one of the models of having missions in some parts of the world and cutting the running costs at the same time.
http://praguemonitor.com/2012/05/17/czechs-embassy-opens-armenia
Newsline: Polish Embassy seeks to repatriate body of killed US journalist
The Polish Embassy in Syria has taken over arrangements to transfer the body of US journalist Marie Colvin back home to New York, after she was killed in a rocket attack last Wednesday. “Our ambassador is in constant contact with the Syrian authorities and the Syrian Red Crescent,” said spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry Marcin Bosacki. Poland is currently representing the US and EU in the Middle Eastern country after many nations pulled out their diplomatic staff as, what has become, a civil war intensifies. Marie Colvin, 56, was reporting for the British Sunday Times newspaper when she was killed in the Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amr, after rockets crashed into a make-shift press centre in the rebel-held city. She was killed alongside French journalist Remi Ochlik. Edith Bouvier of France’s Le Figaro and Patrick Conroy, a British photographer, were both seriously wounded in the attack.
http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/91462,Poland-tries-to-organise-journalists-body-be-returned-home-from-Syria
Newsline: Polish diplomat attacks Pakistani policeman
A Pakistani policeman assaulted by a Polish diplomat here watched in shock as his seniors served tea and snacks to his attacker in a bid to calm him down. The bizarre incident took place when the diplomat beat up a traffic policeman who had asked him for his car documents to issue him a ticket in a busy Islamabad district. Police sources said their colleague Mohammad Ishaq asked Gerzy Bogusz, deputy defence attache at the Polish embassy, not to park in a no-parking zone. His car had a local license number plate. The adamant diplomat refused and instead abused the policeman. He also came out of the car, held the policeman by his collar and went on to slap, kick and punch him. He also spat at the officer. But as angry onlookers came to the policeman’s rescue, the frightened foreigner took refuge in his car. The 50-year-old victim then radioed for help. At the police station, Bogusz proved his diplomatic identity. And then, senior officers ‘profusely apologized to him and served him refreshment while the diplomat went on cursing the police and journalists’.
http://www.inewsone.com/2011/10/05/police-placate-diplomat-who-attacks-cop/81311
Newsline: Polish diplomats can lose embassy building in Minsk
Polandtakes over the EU presidency on July 1, but its start was marked by domestic problems for the Polish diplomatic mission inBelarus. Diplomats were asked to vacate the building inRumyantsev Street in Minskthat the Polish embassy has been renting for many years. The official reason is expiring the rental period. “Did the Belarusian party offer other variants to locate the mission or maybePolanddecided to build own residence in Minsk?” the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya” asked Polish Ambassador to Belarus Leszek Szerepka. “We have such plans, but I think it’s highly unlikely that we could fulfill them in the nearest time. We need time, from3to 4 years,” the diplomat said. “When I arrived inMinsk, I was informed that the embassy must evict. This gave us a problem. The property market is not so developed in Belarus. It’s difficult to find a place for the embassy. It is practically impossible to find such premises in the centre, because they are occupied by municipal services and governmental bodies. Frankly speaking, I tried to talk to the Belarusian MFA and tried to arrange a meeting in the Presidential Administration. We sent the note two months ago, but we have not received any answer yet. Anyway, we will try to solve this situation.”
Newsline: Poland summons Lithuania envoy over ethnic Poles
Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Lithuanian ambassador inWarsawto express concern over the treatment of its Baltic neighbour’s Polish-speaking minority. The move is the latest sign of increased tensions between the two countries, which are both members of the European Union and of NATO, over a growing list of complaints, including the treatment of ethnic Poles and Polish investors in Lithuania. The ministry said it had expressed concern to Ambassador Loreta Zakareviciene about “a growing … atmosphere of enmity” inLithuaniatowards its Polish-speaking population.Vilniushas already distanced itself from recent nationalistic comments by some Lithuanian educators cited byPoland. “We should not let radicals prevail. The (Lithuanian) government wants emotions to be left aside, so the normal dialogue (withPoland) continues,” said Virgis Valentinavicius, a spokesman forLithuania’s prime minister. The two countries have had generally friendly ties since the fall of communism in 1989 andLithuania’s regaining of its independence in 1991 after the collapse of theSoviet Union. ButWarsawhas long fretted about the rights of the Polish minority inLithuania, which makes up around 7 percent of the small Baltic republic’s population, over issues ranging from the spelling of Polish names to land disputes and education.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE73I1O620110419
Newsline: Polish diplomat stationed in Russia resigns
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has accepted the resignation of Tomasz Turowski, head of the political department of the Polish embassy in Moscow. Mr Turowski, active in Polish diplomacy since the 1970s, is accused by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) of having made false statements in his vetting declaration. Vetting, or lustration, is common in post-communist countries and aims to exclude those associated with abuses under the communist regime from participation in political life. In a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website, spokesperson Marcin Bosacki explained that Minister Sikorski had accepted the resignation immediately. Under the code number 9596, Mr Turowski worked in the upper echelons of the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the communist regime. Mr Turowski was first posted to the Vatican in the late 1970s, and then in various locations in the Soviet Union. He joined the Eastern Europe department of the Foreign Ministry in 1993 and was named ambassador to Cuba in 2001. According to Rzeczpospolita, Mr Turowski became one of Minister Sikorski’s most trusted advisors on Polish-Russian relations. Officials found guilty of lying in a vetting process are prohibited from holding public office for a period of three to ten years.
http://www.wbj.pl/article-52673-polish-diplomat-stationed-in-russia-resigns.html?typ=ise
Newsline: Polish intelligence had warned of attack on Indian embassy in Kabul
Polish intelligence had, a week before the 2008 Indian embassy bombing, warned of a possible Taliban attack on Indian interests in the Afghan capital with the “main goal” to show its ability to attack on every object in Kabul, according to a document leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks. The document on possible attack on the Indian embassy is part of a massive leak of 92,000 intelligence reports that suggested that the war in Afghanistan is going badly for the US and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is fuelling the insurgency in the war-torn country. Advance copies of the leak were made available to three publications – The New York Times, British daily newspaper Guardian, and German weekly Der Spiegel, which made some excerpts available. The document dealing with the Indian embassy is titled ‘Threat Report: Threat to Indian Embassy.’ The date of information is June 30, 2008, while the date of report is July 1, 2008. The organisation involved is “Taliban Center” and the Report number is 75010708. “Taliban are planning to carry out an attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul. TB (Taliban) designated an engineer to take this action,” the document reads. “He intends to use stolen ANA/ANP (Afghan National Army/ Afghan National Police) car, and wears stolen uniform. He speaks Dari with distinct Iranian accent. Allegedly, he is the owner of a company,” it added. A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the heavily fortified Indian embassy’s gates in Kabul on July 7, 2008, killing 58 people and wounding more than 140. Defence attache Brigadier R D Mehta and Counsellor Venkateswara Rao were killed when the suicide bomber targeted the embassy during the morning rush hour. Other documents strongly indicate that Pakistan’s ISI is supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan, as well as plotting with Taliban leaders to assassinate Afghan leaders. The New York Times pointed out that it has been difficult for the US to pin Pakistan’s spy agency directly to an attack orchestrated by the Taliban. But the assault on the Indian embassy led the CIA’s then deputy director Stephen R Kappes to immediately go to Islamabad to confront the ISI with evidence that it had helped organise the attack.
Newsline: Alleged Mossad spy arrest over Hamas hit led to diplomatic friction
An alleged Mossad spy from Israel wanted in connection with the hit-squad slaying of a Hamas agent in Dubai has been arrested in Poland. The man, using the name Uri Brodsky, is suspected of working for Mossad in Germany and helping to issue a fake German passport to a member of the Mossad operation that allegedly killed Hamas agent Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January. Brodsky was arrested in early June upon his arrival in Poland because of a European arrest warrant issued by Germany which is now seeking his extradition. The suspect appeared before a Polish court on June 6, and was ordered to remain in temporary arrest for up to 40 days. In Israel, the Foreign Ministry said without elaborating that it was aware of the man’s fate. The arrest in Poland already has already led to some diplomatic friction. The Israeli Embassy has urged Polish authorities not to extradite Brodsky. Germany’s Foreign Ministry had no comment on the case and referred to an ongoing judicial investigation by the federal prosecutor’s office. Australia expelled an Israeli diplomat in May after it emerged Australian passports were used in the killing of al-Mabhouh. Israel responded by saying the decision was regrettable.
Newsline: Mourners Find Comfort At Polish Embassies
A steady stream of people paid their respects at the Polish Embassy after learning of the tragic plane crash that killed the country’s president and his delegation. A period of national mourning has been declared in Poland. The embassy’s flag flies at half staff. Poland’s Ambassador to the U.S. talks about the enormous loss to his country. Poland’s president and his delegation were enroute to mark the anniversary of the Katyn massacre….a bitter moment in Polish history where thousands died at the hands of Soviet officers. It’s a place where some people claim is cursed. That belief is now only strengthened.
Newsline: Armenian Embassy in Poland’s Charity Fair
The wives of the ambassadors in Poland organized the New Year day Charity Fairs, and proceeds went to children with cancer. Armenian Embassy was presenting national traditional hand-made souvenirs, Armenian brandy and the works of Armenian artists in Poland.
