Meeting of the Polish-American Consultation Council in Washington, D.C.

The meeting was attended by a high-ranking delegation from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the director of the Department for Cooperation with Polonia and Poles Abroad Jacek Junosza-Kisielewski, the director of the Consular Department Marek Ciesielczuk, as well as the deputy director of the Bureau of the Ministry\' HR Krzysztof Teske.

The meeting was opened by Ambassador Ryszard Schnepf, who outlined once more the important historical anniversaries which are being celebrated in 2014, including 10 years of Poland’s membership in the European Union, 25 years of Poland’s democracy, the Year of Jan Karski celebrating the centennial of Karski’s birth, the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising as well as the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of the Polish American congress.

The Ambassador noted that the Polish-American community was actively involved in all these celebrations, and that cooperation and common initiatives with the Polish diaspora are imperative for realizing Poland’s foreign policy, which allows for attaining our common interests.

Director Jacek Junosza-Kisielewski discussed the Government’s Program of Cooperation with the Polish Diaspora 2015-2020, emphasizing that the new program attempts to address the changes occurring both in Poland and the Polish diaspora, such as new Polish immigrants in the European Union. The program also attempts to deal with the different situations of the Polish Diaspora and that of Poles living abroad, which differ from country to country. The topic of financing offered by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Polish-American community was also discussed, and Director Junosza-Kisielewski encouraged Polish-American organizations to contact Polish nongovernmental organizations to receive funding within the frame work of “Cooperation with the Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad in 2015.”

During the course of the meeting, representatives of the Council discussed how best to communicate with American of Polish ancestry who do not speak Polish. The Council also deliberated over the lack of youth involvement in the Polish-American community. Both the Ambassador as well as the delegation from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized the need for the Polish diaspora to have a strong standing in the country which they reside in.

The Polish-American Consultation Council established by the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. is one of four such councils operating by Polish diplomatic posts in the United States, with the others being in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. The Consular district of the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. encompasses the states of Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, and representatives from these states are on the consultation council.