Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, designated by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, represented Poland at the 29 January World Economic Forum in Davos.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski headed the Polish delegation to the London international conference on Afghanistan on 28 January 2010. The conference was attended by 77 delegations representing states, international organisations and NGOs.

On Wednesday, January 27th, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski delivered the opening address at the Madrid seminar “Future of the Eastern Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities”. Minister Sikorski’s speech was followed by a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Poland, the Kingdom of Spain and the Czech Republic.

A ceremony of the signing of Grant Agreements with the Afghan NGO ‘AIRO’ was held in the Japanese Embassy in Kabul on 25 January 2010. The Agreements cover the implementation of outreach projects for the Ghazni province.

MFA Secretary for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz chaired the Polish delegation to the Brussels session of General Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council on 25 January 2010. At the General Affairs Council delegates focused on the Spanish Presidency programme and the forthcoming events on the European agenda, including the European Council’s special meeting dedicated to the EU economic situation, scheduled for 11 February 2010.

On Saturday, January 23rd, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski made a telephone call to Belarus’s Foreign Minister Sergey Martinov. The Ministers discussed questions of bilateral relations in the context of Minister Martinov’s forthcoming visit to Poland, including questions of last Friday’s Belarusian Security Services’ steps against members of the Union of Poles in Belarus who, on that day, were on their way to the Polish Centre in Ivyanets.

        Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski held consultations with Foreign Ministers of Visegrad associated countries, Bulgaria and Romania during a teleconference on 22 January 2010. In the discussion the Ministers covered subjects that will be on the agenda of the General Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union on 25-26 January 2010.

Following the Haiti earthquake and its fatal consequences Poland has so far donated aid worth of PLN6 mln. The nature of aid was determined on the basis of reports by international humanitarian actors operating on the crisis scene. These reports indicated that the most efficient way to extend relief aid was through directly sending self-sufficient and professionally equipped groups of rescue workers with material aid in the form of medications and food supplies.

 Urmas Paet, Estonia’s Foreign Minister, paid a working visit to Warsaw on 19-20 January 2010. The programme included talks with Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Jerzy Szmajdziński.

German Chancellor’s EU Adviser Uwe Corsepius paid a day’s visit to Warsaw at the invitation of MFA Secretary for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz. The meeting addressed subjects of the European Council sessions scheduled for 11 February and 25-26 March in Brussels.

On Monday, January 18, MFA Under-Secretary of State Paweł Wojciechowski held a second Foreign Ministers' teleconference on Haiti aid connecting Ministers of France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

The decision on the discontinuation of the Polish Institute in Sofia will in no way be detrimental to maintaining a substantial and significant cultural presence in Bulgaria. Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently reviewed the network of Polish Institutes across the globe and attempted to re-examine their roles in the contemporary geopolitical reality.

According to the recent reports two Polish citizens (along with the Polish rescue team) are remaining in Haiti. They have done so of their own free will, having expressed a desire to bring assistance to the earthquake victims. On Monday, January 18, a Polish citizen was flown by an American military aircraft from Haiti to the town of Jackmel in the Dominican Republic. She will return to Poland with the help of the Polish Consular Service. The Polish Consulates have so far assisted in the evacuation of three Polish citizens.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has been designated by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to represent Poland at the forthcoming World Economic Forum in Davos. Minister Sikorski has confirmed his participation as panellist in the following two sessions:

Cornelia Pieper, Germany’s Minister of State and the new government coordinator for Polish-German social and cross-border cooperation, paid a working visit to Warsaw on January 14, 2010. The programme included meetings with Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and MFA Under-Secretary of State Grażyna Bernatowicz. The main issues raised included the state of Polish-German relations, cross-border cooperation and social relations.

MFA Secretary of State for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz took part in an informal meeting of Ministers for Europe, organized on 12-14 January 2010 by the Spanish Presidency in the town of La Granja.

        Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski paid a working visit to Hungary on January 11, 2010 at the invitation of his Hungarian counterpart Péter Balázs. The programme included meetings with Hungary’s President László Sólyom, PM Gordon Bajnai, Foreign Minister Péter Balázs and the main opposition party Chairman Fidesz V. Orbán.

A press briefing by the MFA Department for Development Cooperation and TNS OBOP polling centre will be held on January 12 at 1 pm in the MFA main building (entrance A) at 23 Szucha, Warsaw. The briefing will outline 2009 opinion poll results: ‘Poles on development aid.

        During the telephone call on January 4th 2010 Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Belarus’s Foreign Minister Sergey Martinov discussed questions of intensifying bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, the establishment and functioning of the Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan Customs Union, and the signing of the agreement on frontier zone travel between Poland and Belarus.