On 30 December, Minister Radosław Sikorski participated in an extraordinary meeting of the EU member state Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was devoted to the situation in the Middle East.

        Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland is deeply concerned about the escalation of  violence in Gaza and expresses regret over the growing number of civilian casualties.

        On 16th December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, met John Rood, the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security in the US State Department. The talks covered details connected with the agreement signed in August for the installation in Poland of elements of the US missile defence shield and the declaration of strategic cooperation.

        Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Radosław Sikorski accompanies the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Donald Tusk in the meeting of European Council held on 11th - 12th December in Brussels.

          On 10th December, the inaugural Meeting of the Executives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Ukraine was taking place. Heading the delegations were the Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Minister Radosław Sikorski for the Polish delegation, and Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko for the Ukrainian delegation. The meeting was an expression of Polish-Ukrainian partnership relations.

        On 10th December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Thanks to its universal nature, the Declaration has become a customary law act and has been providing a basis for a number of documents protecting human rights.

        The 9th Polish-German Intergovernmental Consultations will be held in Warsaw on 9th December 2008, under the chairmanship of Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, and Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

        The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, was heading the Polish delegation on 8th December at the meeting of the European Union General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels.

        On December 5th and 6th 2008 Minister Radosław Sikorski was in Berlin to give a speech together with Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the 13th Polish-German Forum entitled Renew Dialogue – a View over Europe.

        On 5th – 7th December 2008, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan Borkowski, will accompany Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, during his official visit to the Republic of Korea. Minister Borkowski will sign the Programme of cultural, scientific and educational cooperation between the governments of the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Korea for 2009 – 2011.

        The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that on 2nd December 2008  the Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding the Polish citizen abducted in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ambassador Zenon Kuchciak, was received for an audience with the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari.

        A meeting of the foreign ministers of NATO member countries was held in Brussels on 2nd - 3rd December 2008. Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Poland, presided over the Polish delegation.

        The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bangkok estimates that approximately 300 Polish citizens are unable to leave Thailand due to the blockade of Bangkok’s airports.   This includes groups of tourists on organised trips, who are being taken care of by tourist agencies.
        Since the crisis began, the consular service has been providing all Polish citizens with essential assistance. To this end, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bangkok has established an operations team and activated phone lines where consular help and information is available 24 hours per day.

        On 28th November, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, participated in a debate, “New Challenges to Polish Foreign Policy”, organised by the Stefan Batory Foundation. Adam Rotfeld, Andrzej Olechowski, Aleksander Smolar and Marek Cichocki were among the other participants.

        It is with great sadness that we learned of the news of the series of large-scale and brutal terrorist attacks which occurred in Mumbai on 26th November 2008, resulting in the death and injury of both Indian and foreign nationals. We have already sent our sympathy to the Indian government. Fortunately, there were no Polish citizens among the victims of the terrorist attacks.

        The inaugural session of the Foreign Economic Policy Consultative Council, led by Minister Radosław Sikorski, took place on 27th November 2008. The Council’s members include representatives of leading economic local government organisations, economic research and analytical centres, the academic community and the economic press.