In Poland, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is of great significance. During the Second World War, it was on German-occupied Polish territory that Nazi Germany constructed all of its death camps, including the global symbol of the Holocaust – the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The international community has selected the anniversary of the camp’s liberation to serve as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On 27 January 2012, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz will lead the Polish delegation to the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. During the meeting, ministers will discuss the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski will lead the Polish delegation on 23 January 2012 to the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in Brussels. The FAC agenda will include discussion on Iran, the current situation in Syria and Egypt and the Middle East peace process.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its deep sorrow at the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza, a 37 years old Cuban dissident and member of the opposition party Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) from the Santiago de Cuba province. Wilman Villar Mendoza passed away after a 50-day long hunger strike, which he began in the protest against his arbitral sentencing for 4 years of imprisonment in November 2011.

On 24 January 2012 Secretary of State for European Affairs and Economic Policy Mikołaj Dowgielewicz will hold consultations prior to the informal meeting of heads of the EU states and governments to be organized on 30 January 2012. During his visit to London Minister Dowgielewicz will participate in a seminar summing up the Polish Presidency in the EU Council.

On 20 January 2012, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski took part in the ceremony to hand over the Polish Presidency’s logotype to the Polish Know How Foundation for International Development Cooperation (Foundation for International Solidarity).

On 20 January 2012, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski met in Warsaw with Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Finances of the Republic of Turkey, Ali Babacan. During their conversation they discussed bilateral cooperation, including perspectives for developing economic cooperation. The agenda of the meeting also comprised EU-Turkish relations.

On 20 January 2012, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski met in Warsaw with Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Poland, Muhammad Alim Sorcar. Their conversation focused on bilateral cooperation.

On 18 January 2012, the Foreign Minster of the Republic of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvićs will pay a working visit to Poland at the invitation of Minister Radosław Sikorski. During his stay in Warsaw Minister Rinkēvićs will meet Minister Radosław Sikorski as well as Secretary of State Mikołaj Dowgielewicz.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is paying a working visit to Poland on 15-16 January 2012 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.During the meeting the Ministers will discuss the current situation in the Middle East, including the consequences of the Arab Spring, as well as the peace process in the region. Also, the Ministers are to devote special attention to the issue of Iran and its nuclear programme as well as the tensions in the Persian Gulf.

A consultation meeting of the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Germany and Russia was held in Warsaw on 16 January 2012. Participants included Emily Haber, Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany; Jerzy Pomianowski, Undersecretary of State, MFA Poland; and Vladimir Titov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister.

Minister Radosław Sikorski met with a delegation of the United States Congress on 11 January 2012. The delegation comprised representatives of the state of Illinois: senator Mark Kirk, member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, as well as congressman Mike Quigley, member of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again expresses its deep concern over the escalation of violence in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We sincerely deplore the growing number of victims of terrorist acts. Acts of violence deserve firm condemnation by the international community.

Twenty years ago, on 13 January 1992, the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Lithuania signed in Vilnius the Declaration on friendly relations and neighborly cooperation. The document became the basis for a Polish-Lithuanian Treaty signed by the Presidents of Poland and Lithuania on 26 April 1994.

A meeting devoted to the co-operation between Poland and Denmark during the Danish Presidency in the EU Council was held on Tuesday, 10 January 2012. MFA Secretary of State for European Affairs and Economic Policy Mikołaj Dowgielewicz and Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen discussed priorities to be implemented by the government in Copenhagen until June 2012.