Foreign Minister of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski affirmed the strength of the Qatar-Poland bilateral relationship, stressing the importance of supporting the trade relations and investment exchange between Warsaw and Doha for the shared interests of the friendly countries.
He lauded Qatar's positions in support of peace in the region, along with its active role as intermediary in wide-ranging regional and global issues.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) in Warsaw, he highlighted the positive reflection of the forthcoming visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Poland on the co-operative relationships between the countries in the coming period, emphasising that Poland strongly hopes that such a visit would strengthen the bilateral relations and further expand their horizons. He also expressed appreciation for the Doha-Warsaw trade relations, in addition to appointment of a new ambassador of Qatar to Poland, a step that would further boost bilateral ties.
The foreign minister affirmed that his country commends Qatar's position on the Russian military operation in Ukraine, along with the country's active participation in the High-level Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in in Zurich, Switzerland, in mid-June, 2024, as well as its salient role in peace-making efforts in the Middle East.
He touched on the current relationship between Poland and Qatar, adding that Qatar is the second and largest supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Poland. He revealed that the amount of trade exchange between the two nations in 2022 exceeded the threshold of $2bn across multiple priority fields of exchange.
Sikorski underlined that Poland's support for Qatar's candidacy for membership in the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2025-2027, is a testament to the rock-solid bilateral relationship, noting Qatar's instrumental role in bringing the Ukrainian children back home after they had been held hostages in Russia. He confirmed that the Polish public opinion is incredibly grateful for this move.
He hoped that in the foreseeable future the bilateral relationship between the countries will be stronger than ever, in light of the coming summit, reminding of several co-operative fields, foremost of which are investment, energy, education, food industries and the role of shared visits of senior officials in the countries in bolstering these ties.
Sikorski underlined that there is a convergence of views between the two countries pertaining to regional and global issues of shared concern, stressing that the two countries underscore the importance of respecting the international law and the rules-based international order in their foreign policies.
Regarding Poland's perspective on Qatar's foreign policy and approach in leveraging dialogue and diplomatic means to resolve international conflicts and disputes, he affirmed that there should always be channels of communication between parties to a conflict, lauding Qatar's crucial role and good endeavours to mediate between the parties with respect to the current situation in the Palestinian territories.
He asserted that Poland was among the countries that recognised the State of Palestine and had recently voted alongside 142 countries, for advancing the status of Palestine in the UN in the quest for full membership.
Pertaining to Qatar's role and efforts made in collaboration with partners to stop the war in Gaza and to subsequently reach a ceasefire deal, the Polish foreign minister said his country supports the two-state solution, adding that the matter is extremely difficult, because each party focused solely on their aspirations. And from this point, he said, the Qatari role and effort is highly appreciated.
Sikorski hailed Qatar's support for the international humanitarian aid organisations, emphasising that the international community strongly cherishes this support, recalling Qatar's announcement of $3mn to support the critical mission of the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
