Poland to re-open embassy in PHL

Poland is reopening its diplomatic mission in the Philippines after 22 years of absence in the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.
The move was announced by Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski in his address on Poland’s foreign policy thrusts and priorities in 2016, which he delivered at the Sejm or parliament on Monday, the DFA said, quoting a Philippine embassy report.
“We want to expand our economic cooperation with Asia by re-creating diplomatic posts in such countries as Mongolia and the Philippines,” Waszczykowski said in his speech, but did not say the exact date of the reopening of its diplomatic mission in Manila.
Philippine ambassador to Poland Patricia Ann Paez, who was present at the Sejm during the foreign minister’s address, believes the move “will accelerate the deepening of our country’s relations with Poland at all levels and in all their dimensions.”
“It will also spur the full realization of their potentials. Both countries share the same values of democracy and freedom as well as adherence to the rule of law; have parallel experiences in national transformation; and share the same faith as Catholic nations,” Paez said.
The Philippine Embassy in Poland was first opened in 1990 but was closed in 1993. It was reopened in 2009 by then Ambassador Alejandro del Rosario.
Poland opened its chancery in Manila in 1993 but closed it in 1994. Presently, the Philippines, together with Brunei, are under the jurisdiction of Poland’s Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The DFA said the reopening of Poland’s diplomatic representation in Manila indicates that “it has fully taken into account the Philippines’ economic dynamism and political vibrancy.”
It also noted that the official visit of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Warsaw in 2014 for the first-ever ministerial level meeting between Poland and the Philippines eventually led to the Polish government’s decision “to shift our relations to its highest gear.”
Poland, the DFA said, has been consistently posting positive growth rates for at least two decades.
Its Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.6 percent and was the only country in the European Union that did not fall into recession or experienced an economic slump during the global financial crisis.
Today, it is the primary destination of foreign direct investments in central and eastern Europe. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more