Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński met with Polish ambassadors. While presenting information on the international activities of the Sejm over the past twelve months, he emphasized the growing importance of parliamentary diplomacy. The Speaker of the Sejm enumerated the projects, mainly those relating to regional cooperation and expanding the areas of security in the region and Europe.
- The Polish Sejm actively participates in the implementation of the main objectives of the foreign policy of the Polish State, using the opportunities offered by parliamentary diplomacy. Its advantage lies in transferring activities from the state and government level to the parliamentary and social level, which activates the energy and involvement of regions, citizens and communities - he said. - These tendencies are illustrated by the cooperation between Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary within the Visegrad Group. Cooperation established at the governmental level is also developed in the parliamentary dimension, which has been particularly evident during the last 12 months of the Polish Presidency in the Group.
The Polish V4 presidency was rich in meetings - one of the most important was the March summit of the Presidents of the Visegrad Parliaments in Warsaw - as well as cultural, educational and cognitive initiatives for the Visegrad communities, such as the 1st International Exhibition of Painting of the Visegrad Group Countries VISEGRAD4ART or the exhibition "From Visegrad to Visegrad".
It is also worth mentioning the unveiling of the obelisk in Przemyśl on the Visegrad square or the patronage of the Speakers of Parliament of Visegrad countries at important sporting events.
The ceremonial handing over of the Presidency took place in Kraków. The continuity between the historical heritage, the present and the future was symbolized by the Visegrad bell, cast in the foundry in Przemyśl.
The Speaker of the Sejm has emphasised the special bonds connecting Poland with Hungary, which have not weakened with the end of the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Year. - I would like to mention that concluding strategic partnership agreements is a higher form of cooperation applied to the parliaments of the countries with which we have special ties. We plan to sign such agreements with the other parliaments of the Visegrad Group. We want to extend this format of cooperation to other parliaments as well," Kuchciński said. - Our regional activity has gone far beyond the Visegrad Group. The Sejm has initiated and hosted two parliamentary summits - in August last year it was a meeting of the Chairpersons of the Central and Eastern European Parliaments "Solidarity and Sovereignty", with the participation of the Chairpersons of 11 parliaments of countries neighbouring the European Union, but not being its members. The second conference was held on May 17-18 this year in Warsaw, this time also with the participation of countries from the region that are members of the Union and bringing together representatives of 23 parliaments. At the origin of this initiative lay the conviction that cooperation should be discussed among all European countries, regardless of their geographic location on the continent and their level of involvement in international structures. These meetings have been and will continue to be a platform for deepening ties between states and strengthening regional cooperation. There is a consensus among the participating countries that the strength of the region strengthens the position of each country, and the strength of the region is also strengthened by infrastructure projects, such as the "Via Carpatia" project - he said.
Other initiatives highlighted by the Speaker of the Sejm include the support given to Ukraine or the support given to the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the new opening of Polish-Chinese relations.
Marek Kuchciński emphasized the importance of projects in bilateral cooperation. He recalled the meeting of the Presidium of the Sejm and the Bundestag in Przemyśl and the 5th Polish-Spanish Parliamentary Forum in Cracow. - As far as relations with the German Bundestag are concerned, we do not limit ourselves to contacts at the highest level, as in May Poland was also visited by a delegation of the German-Polish Parliamentary Group,' the Speaker pointed out. - We consider the cooperation of bilateral groups as the most integrating and cognitive form of inter-parliamentary contacts. At present, there are 70 bilateral parliamentary cooperation groups in the Sejm and this process is by no means over," he added.
The Speaker recalled the informal meetings of the EU Parliaments' Presidents he had attended: in Bratislava, and visits to Norway, Latvia and Turkey. I have hosted the Presidents of many parliaments, including Sweden, Romania, Lithuania, Slovakia, Germany and Latvia. - I would especially like to emphasize the significance of the visit of the Speaker of the Knesset to Poland, the importance of our talks and the ceremonial posthumous awarding of the Righteous Among the Nations Medal to the descendants of four heroic Poles," Kuchciński said.
According to Kuchciński, permanent parliamentary delegations are very active, including Sejm and Senate delegations to Parliamentary Assemblies: NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe. We continue to observe elections, such as last year's elections in Georgia.
