Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
Encyclopedia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych) is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-national political organisations such as the European Union
and United Nations
. It is considered to be one of the most important offices of state. The head of the ministry is a full secretary of state and thus holds a place in the Council of Ministers
.
around the world are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassadors, whilst receiving their credentials from the President of Poland, are employees of the foreign ministry and are recommended to the President for their posts by the minister of foreign affairs.
The ministry is considered to be one of Poland's most important, with the minister of foreign affairs ranking amongst the most influential people in Polish politics. This position is typically reserved for seasoned, professional politicians, and is thought to require a great deal of tact and intellect.
forces in the First World War. However, the ministry began to fulfil its ascribed duties truly only after the fall of the Regency Council, adoption of the Treaty of Versailles
and the rise to power of Józef Piłsudski. The ministry was then, until 1939, located in central Warsaw
, with its seat in the Brühl Palace
on Piłsudski Square. During the Second World War, the ministry was evacuated, along with the rest of the Polish government, first to France and then onwards to London, where it formed part of the Polish government in exile
. During this period Count Edward Raczyński, a man who was later to become President of the government in exile, was the minister responsible. After 1945, when most countries began to afford diplomatic regocnition to the new communist government in Warsaw, at the expense of the government in exile, the authorities of the new People's Republic of Poland
refounded the ministry and appointed, as its first minister, Edward Osóbka-Morawski
.
Since 1989 and the establishment of the Third Republic, the ministry and its staff have been located in a complex of buildings on Aleje Szucha in central Warsaw, not far displaced from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister
.
The current minister of foreign affairs is Radosław Sikorski, a career politician educated at the University of Oxford
, who was previously Minister for National Defence, and who has in the past served as both a member of the Sejm
and the Senat.
Currently the Following regional affairs departments exist:
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. It is considered to be one of the most important offices of state. The head of the ministry is a full secretary of state and thus holds a place in the Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers of Poland
The Cabinet of Poland consists of the Prime Minister and ministers. Deputy Prime Ministers and presidents of committees specified in statutes may also be appointed to the Cabinet...
.
Remit and responsibilities of the ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible primarily for maintaining good, friendly relations between the Polish Republic and other states. In doing so it is required to act primarily as a representative of the Polish people. To this end all Polish diplomatic missionsDiplomatic missions of Poland
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Poland, excluding honorary consulates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reduced the number of Polish diplomatic missions in September 2008...
around the world are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassadors, whilst receiving their credentials from the President of Poland, are employees of the foreign ministry and are recommended to the President for their posts by the minister of foreign affairs.
The ministry is considered to be one of Poland's most important, with the minister of foreign affairs ranking amongst the most influential people in Polish politics. This position is typically reserved for seasoned, professional politicians, and is thought to require a great deal of tact and intellect.
History
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was first established, with Leon Wasilewski as its secretary, under the authority of the Regency Council when Poland regained (albeit in name only) its independence from the occupying GermanGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
forces in the First World War. However, the ministry began to fulfil its ascribed duties truly only after the fall of the Regency Council, adoption of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and the rise to power of Józef Piłsudski. The ministry was then, until 1939, located in central Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, with its seat in the Brühl Palace
Brühl Palace, Warsaw
The Brühl Palace , otherwise known as Sandomierski Palace standing at Piłsudski Square. It was a large palace and one of the most beautiful rococo buildings in pre-World War II Warsaw.-History:...
on Piłsudski Square. During the Second World War, the ministry was evacuated, along with the rest of the Polish government, first to France and then onwards to London, where it formed part of the Polish government in exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
. During this period Count Edward Raczyński, a man who was later to become President of the government in exile, was the minister responsible. After 1945, when most countries began to afford diplomatic regocnition to the new communist government in Warsaw, at the expense of the government in exile, the authorities of the new People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
refounded the ministry and appointed, as its first minister, Edward Osóbka-Morawski
Edward Osóbka-Morawski
Edward Osóbka-Morawski was a Polish activist in PPS before World War II, and after the Soviet takover of Poland, Chairman of the Communist interim government called the Polish Committee of National Liberation formed in Lublin with Stalin's approval and backing.In October 1944, Osóbka-Morawski...
.
Since 1989 and the establishment of the Third Republic, the ministry and its staff have been located in a complex of buildings on Aleje Szucha in central Warsaw, not far displaced from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland
The Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland , or KPRM, is a governmental apparatus serving as the executive office for the Prime Minister of Poland...
.
The current minister of foreign affairs is Radosław Sikorski, a career politician educated at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, who was previously Minister for National Defence, and who has in the past served as both a member of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
and the Senat.
Regional affairs departments
The departments for regional affairs exist to monitor the internal situation and politics of the countries within the area of any one specific department's competence. They coordinate development of bilateral relations, initiate the related undertakings and prepare evaluations. These departments oversee the issue of Poland’s participation in the structures of multilateral cooperation with any relevant partner states, as well as handling interregional cooperation. They are responsible for the substantive activity of relevant Polish diplomatic missions abroad.Currently the Following regional affairs departments exist:
- Department of Africa and the Middle East
- Department of the Americas
- Department of Asia and the Pacific Region
- Department of the Committee for European Affairs
- European Policy Department
- European Information Department
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Poland (1916-1918)
- Wojciech Rostworowski (26 November 1917 - 27 February 1918) - Director of the Department of Political Affairs
- Janusz Radziwiłł (4 April 1918 - 23 October 1918) - Director of the Department of State
- Stanisław Głąbiński (23 October 1918 - 4 November 1918) - Minister for Outside Affairs
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 2nd Republic of Poland (1918 - 1939)
- Leon WasilewskiLeon WasilewskiLeon Wasilewski was an activist of the Polish Socialist Party , a coworker of Józef Piłsudski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, designer of much of Second Polish Republic policy towards the East, historian and father of Wanda Wasilewska....
(17 November 1918 - 16 January 1919) - Ignacy Jan PaderewskiIgnacy Jan PaderewskiIgnacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
(16 January 1919 - 9 December 1919) - Władysław WróblewskiWladyslaw WróblewskiWładysław Wróblewski was a Polish politician, scientist, diplomat and lawyer. He is notable as the last provisional prime minister of the German-controlled puppet state of Regency Kingdom before Poland regained her independence in 1918....
(13 December 1919 - 16 December 1919) - Stanisław PatekStanislaw PatekStanisław Patek , Polish lawyer and diplomat, served as Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1920.-The lawyer:Born in Rusinów, he was an activist of the Polish Socialist Party who began his career as an attorney in 1894 in Warsaw, Russian partition...
(16 December 1919 - 9 June 1920) - Eustachy SapiehaEustachy SapiehaEustachy Kajetan Sapieha was a Polish nobleman, prince of the Sapieha family, politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and deputy to the Polish parliament ....
(23 June 1920 - 24 May 1921) - Jan DąbskiJan DabskiJan Dąbski was a Polish politician.Founder of Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast in 1913. He was the chief negotiator for Poland at the peace negotiations in Riga after the Polish-Soviet war . Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland in 1921...
(24 May 1921 - 11 June 1921) - Konstanty SkirmuntKonstanty SkirmuntKonstanty Skirmunt was a Polish politician. Prior to 1914 he was elected to the State Council of Imperial Russia. He was a member of the Polish National Committee in Paris in 1917–1918, Polish ambassador in Rome in 1919–1921, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1921–22, and Polish ambassador in...
(11 June 1921 - 6 June 1922) - Gabriel NarutowiczGabriel NarutowiczGabriel Narutowicz was a Lithuanian-born professor of hydroelectric engineering at Switzerland's Zurich Polytechnic, and Poland's Minister of Public Works , Minister of Foreign Affairs , and the first president of the Second Polish Republic....
(18 June 1922 - 14 December 1922) - Aleksander SkrzyńskiAleksander SkrzynskiAleksander Józef Skrzyński |Galicia]] – 25 September 1931 in Łąkociny near Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland) was a Polish politician who served as the country's prime minister from 1925 to 1926...
(16 December 1922 - 26 May 1923) - Marian Seyda (28 May 1923 - 27 October 1923)
- Roman DmowskiRoman DmowskiRoman Stanisław Dmowski was a Polish politician, statesman, and chief ideologue and co-founder of the National Democracy political movement, which was one of the strongest political camps of interwar Poland.Though a controversial personality throughout his life, Dmowski was instrumental in...
(27 October 1923 - 14 December 1923) - Karol Bertoni (19 December 1923 - 19 January 1924)
- Maurycy ZamoyskiMaurycy Klemens ZamoyskiCount Maurycy Klemens Zamoyski was a Polish nobleman , politician, social activist, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland....
(19 January 1924 - 27 July 1924) - Aleksander SkrzyńskiAleksander SkrzynskiAleksander Józef Skrzyński |Galicia]] – 25 September 1931 in Łąkociny near Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland) was a Polish politician who served as the country's prime minister from 1925 to 1926...
(27 July 1924 - 5 May 1926) - Kajetan Dzierżykraj-Morawski (10 May 1926 - 15 May 1926)
- August ZaleskiAugust ZaleskiAugust Zaleski was a Polish economist, politician, and diplomat. Twice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, he served as the President of Poland within the Polish Government in Exile.- Biography :...
(15 May 1926 - 2 November 1932) - Józef BeckJózef Beck' was a Polish statesman, diplomat, military officer, and close associate of Józef Piłsudski...
(2 November 1932 - 30 September 1939)
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Polish Government in Exile (1939 - 1945)
The Polish Government-in-Exile had a wide international recognition until 1945, and limited to just few countries until 1970s- August ZaleskiAugust ZaleskiAugust Zaleski was a Polish economist, politician, and diplomat. Twice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, he served as the President of Poland within the Polish Government in Exile.- Biography :...
(30 September 1939 - 25 July 1941) - Edward RaczyńskiEdward Raczynski (1891-1993)Edward Bernard Raczyński was a Polish aristocrat, diplomat, writer, politician and President of Poland in exile ....
(22 August 1941 - 14 July 1943) - Tadeusz RomerTadeusz RomerTadeusz Romer was a Polish diplomat and politician.He was a personal secretary to Roman Dmowski in 1919. Later he joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as Polish ambassador to Italy, Portugal, Japan and the Soviet Union...
(14 July 1943 - 24 November 1944) - Adam Tarnowski (29 November 1944 - 10 February 1949)
- Mieczysław Sokołowski (7 April 1949 - 8 December 1953)
- Aleksander ZawiszaAleksander ZawiszaAleksander Zawisza was the Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exilefrom June 25, 1965 to July 16, 1970.Previously the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1959 he played a part in moving the wartime archives of the Ministry of Information and Documentation from the UK to the Hoover Institution...
(8 August 1955 - 11 June, 1970) - Jerzy Gawenda (20 July 1970 - 14 July 1972)
- Jan Starzewski (18 July 1972 - 15 December 1973)
- Bronisław Hełczyński (17 January 1974 - 15 July 1976)
- Zygmunt Zawadowski (5 August 1976 - 1 September 1979)
- Kazimierz SabbatKazimierz SabbatKazimierz Aleksander Sabbat , was President of Poland in Exile from 8 April 1986 until his death, 19 July 1989, after serving as Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile.-Early life:...
(1 September 1979 - 7 April 1986) - Zygmunt Szkopiak (1989 - 20 December 1990)
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of Poland (1944 - 1989)
- Edward Osóbka-MorawskiEdward Osóbka-MorawskiEdward Osóbka-Morawski was a Polish activist in PPS before World War II, and after the Soviet takover of Poland, Chairman of the Communist interim government called the Polish Committee of National Liberation formed in Lublin with Stalin's approval and backing.In October 1944, Osóbka-Morawski...
(21 July 1944 - 2 May 1945) - Wincenty RzymowskiWincenty RzymowskiWincenty Rzymowski was a Polish politician and writer.In interwar Poland he was a member of the Democratic Party and a known publicist. In a controversy involving allegations of plagiarism, he was forced to resign his membership in the Polish Academy of Literature.During WWII he began...
(2 May 1945 - 5 February 1947) - Zygmunt ModzelewskiZygmunt ModzelewskiZygmunt Modzelewski was a Polish communist politician.He was a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania and Communist Party of Poland. From 1923 to 1937 he was a member of the French Communist Party and even joined its Central Committee...
(6 February 1947 - 20 March 1951) - Stanisław Skrzeszewski (20 March 1951 - 27 April 1956)
- Adam RapackiAdam RapackiAdam Rapacki was a Polish politician and diplomat.-Life:Rapacki was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary in 1909. He was a member of the Polish Socialist Party from 1945 to 1948 as well as its successor, the Polish United Workers' Party...
(27 April 1956 - 22 December 1968) - Stefan Jędrychowski (22 December 1968 - 22 December 1971)
- Stefan Olszowski (22 December 1971 - 2 December 1976)
- Emil Wojtaszek (2 December 1976 - 24 August 1980)
- Józef Czyrek (24 August 1980 - 21 July 1982)
- Stefan Olszowski (21 June 1982 - 12 November 1985)
- Marian Orzechowski (12 November 1985 - 17 June 1988)
- Tadeusz OlechowskiTadeusz OlechowskiTadeusz Olechowski was a Polish communist politician, Polish ambassador to various countries from 1960s to 1980s , Minister of Foreign Trade in 1972, viceminister of Foreign Affairs , last Minister of Foreign Affairs of People's...
(17 June 1988 - 9 September 1989)
Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 3rd Republic of Poland (since 1989)
- Krzysztof SkubiszewskiKrzysztof SkubiszewskiKrzysztof Skubiszewski was a Polish politician, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and an established scholar in the field of international law.Skubiszewski was born in Poznań...
(12 September 1989 - 25 October 1993) - Andrzej OlechowskiAndrzej OlechowskiAndrzej Marian Olechowski is a Polish politician. He was one of the co-founders of conservative liberal party Civic Platform in 2001 with Maciej Płażyński and Donald Tusk...
(26 October 1993 - 6 March 1995) - Władysław Bartoszewski (7 March 1995 - 22 December 1995)
- Dariusz RosatiDariusz RosatiDariusz Kajetan Rosati is a Polish professor of economics and a politician who is a member of the European Parliament .-Biography:...
(29 December 1995 - 31 October 1997) - Bronisław Geremek (31 October 1997 - 30 June 2000)
- Władysław Bartoszewski (30 June 2000 - 19 October 2001)
- Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (19 October 2001 - 5 January 2005)
- Adam Daniel RotfeldAdam Daniel RotfeldAdam Daniel Rotfeld is a Polish researcher, diplomat, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland from 5 January 2005 until 31 October 2005 when a change of government took place. He served earlier as the deputy foreign minister...
(5 January 2005 - 31 October 2005) - Stefan MellerStefan MellerStefan Meller was a Polish diplomat and academician. He served as foreign minister of Poland from 31 October 2005, to 9 May 2006, in the cabinet of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz....
(31 October 2005 - 9 May 2006) - Anna FotygaAnna FotygaAnna Elżbieta Fotyga née Kawecka is a Polish economist, politician, former Member of the European Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, in the successive cabinets of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński...
(9 May 2006 - 16 November 2007) - Radosław Sikorski (16 November 2007 - incumbent)