BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ALBANIA AND POLAND

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south and Lithuania and Russia’s Kaliningrad to the northeast. Poland is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres and a population of nearly 38.5 million inhabitants. Poland’s capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. The official language is Polish. The Polish Constitution (03 May 1791) is generally considered Europe’s first and the world’s second, modern written national constitution, after the USA Constitution (1789).

Poland is a representative democracy, with a president as the head of state, elected by popular vote every five years. The legislative authority of the Poland is vested in the bicameral Parliament, the Sejm (lower house, 460 members) and the Senate (upper house, 100 members).

The government structure centers on the Council of Ministers is led by a prime minister.

OVERVIEW

Poland is a country that has always supported the most important integration processes of Albania. In this context, with the initiative of Poland, was organized a visit to Albania, on 04-05 March 2020, of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Estonia, with the aim of delivering a strong message of support for Albania’s efforts to opening of negotiations with the EU.

Political dialogue, contacts and visits are intense and productive. Recent visits include: the visit to Poland of the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Gent Cakaj, on 09 September 2019; the visit to Albania of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, on 07 May 2018; the visit to Tirana of the President of Poland, Mr. Andrzej Duda, on 08-09 May 2019, in the framework of his participation in the Brdo-Brijuni Summit, as well as the visit to Warsaw of the President of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta, on 02-03 September 2019, in the framework of his participation in the ceremony of the 80th anniversary of the Second World War. A visit to Tirana was also paid by the Secretary of State for Europe, the Polish Community Abroad, Public and Cultural Diplomacy at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, on 2-3 November 2021, during which the first regular and permanent flight Warsaw-Tirana was inaugurated, enabled by the Polish airline LOT.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

The year 1937 is considered as the year of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Albanian Government has sent a request to the Polish Government for recognition, immediately after the final decision of the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris, in November 1921. In 1937, the Albanian Legation in Athens has informed the Albanian side that the Minister Plenipotentiary of Poland in Athens will be accredited as welll as Minister Plenipotentiary to Tirana. This information is concretized in 1938, by the signing, on 10 April 1938, of the Credentials for Mr. Wladyslav Schwarzburg-Gunther, as Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary to Tirana, resident in Athens. The Polish press of that time considered this act as a reestablishment of the bilateral relations between Poland and Albania, after 500 years, referring to the period of the victories of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, time when Władysław III, the king of Poland wrote him a letter asking for his cooperation.

The relations with Poland are evaluated as traditionally very good. A friendly country that has supported the most important processes in which Albania is engaged, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the NATO membership and the integration into the European Union. In all high-level meetings the Albanian side is assured for the support of Poland, which is not only on the political level. In May 2014, during the visit in Warsaw of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Ditmir Bushati, it has been signed the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two countries on issues of European integration, and immediately began its implementation. During the visit to Albania of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, on 07 May 2018, the Tirana Conference was launched, a bilateral consultative forum between our two countries, for the exchange of expertise and information on EU issues, in which Poland shares its experience and assists Albania on its path towards the European integration. The Second Edition of this Conference was held on 09 September 2019, in Warsaw, during the visit of the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Gent Cakaj.