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Mideast summit to boost Poland’s int’l status: Polish FM

PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska 15.02.2019 08:30
The just-ended Mideast conference in Warsaw will boost Poland’s prestige on the international arena and improve ties with the US, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has said in an interview.
Poland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Photo: PAP/Paweł SupernakPoland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Speaking to public broadcaster TVP Info on Thursday, Czaputowicz said the gathering’s greatest achievement would be to help bring about peace in the Middle East.

Foreign ministers and senior officials from 63 nations were meeting in the Polish capital on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss issues such as missile proliferation, energy security, emerging cyber-based threats, counterterrorism, migration crises and humanitarian aid.

The event was attended by US Vice-President Mike Pence, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Czaputowicz said Poland was “undertaking efforts aimed at bringing the stands of the European Union and the United States on the Middle East closer together.”

He said that the key difference between the US and EU is whether to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran.

He added: “Poland and the entire European Union believe that the nuclear agreement should be preserved, whereas the United States pulled out of it and said that decisive sanctions should be put in place.”

Czaputowicz said that deepening diplomatic collaboration between Warsaw and Washington D.C. was one of the advantages of the conference.

He added, however, that the summit’s biggest advantage would be to contribute to peace in the Middle East and thus fulfil the country’s role of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He told TVP Info that the peace process in the Middle East was “a difficult issue.” He said that “a diagnosis of the situation was presented and a certain plan drafted” at the two-day event.

Czaputowicz said that Poland wants “the Arab world to be in dialogue with Israel as this provides a chance for peace. It is also of direct significance to Europe as refugees come from this area.”

Asked about allegations of exacerbating relations between Warsaw and Tehran and putting Poland’s safety at risk, Czaputowicz said that the view that Iran is a country causing problems was shared by the European Union.

He said he and other EU foreign ministers “have recently discussed the issue and have jointly condemned Iran’s actions in Europe, such as plots to assassinate opposition activists in Denmark and France, so this opinion is common.” He added that the conference itself did not focus on particular countries.

(aba)

Source: PAP

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