The forthcoming Conference is another important political event in 2010, along with the January London Conference, the June National Peace Council and Afghanistan’s September parliamentary elections. The Afghan government is to present its achievements in transforming the country’s political and economic life and set out a plan of action for the key areas of governance. The international community and all the countries involved in Afghanistan hope that the Kabul Conference will make it possible to have a serious debate on the state of implementation of Afghanistan’s commitments undertaken at the London Conference in January 2010. For a stable Afghanistan it is crucial that groups so far excluded from public life are included in the process of reaching political reconciliation. Therefore, organizing the June Peace Council, shortly before the upcoming Conference, was President Afghanistan’s crucial step towards launching the peace process.

While in Kabul and Bagram, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is to meet Afghanistan’s scholars and academics as well as ISAF senior officers. Minister Sikorski will also visit New Zealand’s contingent in the Bamyan province and meet the leaders of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). While in the Ghazni province, Minister Sikorski will meet the soldiers of the Polish Task Force. The visit’s programme will also see Minister Sikorski meet the new governor of the Ghazni province M. Khan and its local authorities. Minister Sikorski will also meet the Polish PRT commanders and visit the districts aided by the Polish Development Assistance.

The Polish involvement in the ISAF mission and Afghanistan’s reconstruction process is multifaceted and involves both military and civilian operations. Poland appreciates the role of the civil sector as it foster the development of Afghanistan’s civil society and democratic institutions. Therefore, each year we allocate over 12 million dollars on the Polish Development Assistance. As there are plans to change the nature of our involvement in Afghanistan–from stabilization to training-advisory missions–we plan to increase our involvement in training the Afghan Police and Army and delegate more civilian experts on development assistance. Poland also contributes to the reconstruction and modernization of the Ghazni province, whose capital has been selected for the 2013 World Islamic Culture Capital. There is a perception that non-military action will bring the greatest benefits in relations not only with Afghanistan but also with all countries and international institutions currently involved on the Afghan soil.

Piotr Paszkowski
Press Spokesman