Ambassador
Victor Ashe

Happy Holidays from Warsaw!

     As the new Polish government takes office, we at the Embassy are busy meeting with new ministers and counterparts and generally establishing relationships with new and old friends alike.

     November began with a call from President Bush from Air Force One to Polish Ambassador to Iraq Edward Pietrzyk, who was injured in a bomb attack on his car in Baghdad in October. I visited him last week here in Warsaw and was impressed by his courageous attitude. He plans to return to Baghdad next week. 

    The President also called the new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to congratulate him and to offer best wishes for continued strong U.S.-Polish relations.

    The U.S. House passed a bill to authorize $5 million for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, an important step in realizing the completion of this highly significant museum in Warsaw. It now goes to the Senate.

    The Embassy was very active in defense-related outreach in November, first by co-sponsoring an important conference on November 15 on Trans-Atlantic Security Policy, in which invited speakers Max Boot, Senior Fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, and Peter Flory, Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investments at NATO spoke about the U.S. proposal to site a missile defense shield in Poland.

    We also began our ambitious missile defense component of the Embassy Speakers Bureau, and sent out half a dozen officials to universities and other public groups to discuss the missile defense proposal. You can read our activities on our re-designed missile defense page on the Embassy website at http://poland.usembassy.gov/missile-defense.html.

    Defense Secretary Robert Gates called new Defense Minister Bogdan Klich to wish him well and to invite him to Washington in January, 2008. Secretary of State Rice also spoke directly with Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski; he attended the Middle East Peace Conference in Annapolis last week at the Secretary’s invitation.

    Also in November, Polish sports celebrity Agnieszka Rylik flew in one of the Polish F-16s, which resulted in a better understanding by the Polish public of what these planes are. Later in the month, Defense Minister Klich, as part of his inspection of the critical technology upgrades of the Polish armed forces, also flew in an F-16. The Polish F-16s were featured on the covers of two nationally published Polish magazines.

    An important development in November was the final negotiations between the Embassy and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education on a new Fulbright agreement. 2009 will mark 50 years of the Fulbright Program in Poland, and the new agreement will double the size of the program.

    Last week, we announced the opening of the U.S. market to Polish pork, which will result in tremendous growth for Polish producers. Early in December, we are also celebrating the expansion of the Polish market to U.S. pears, which has been closed for many years.

    On December 3, I presented to Tadeusz Mazowiecki, first Prime Minister after the fall of communism and Solidarity activist, the Embassy’s 2008 Karski Freedom Award for his promotion of democracy and freedom within Poland and in Central Europe. A large reception was held at my residence for this occasion which was well attended.

    Finally, I’ve been extremely busy with my first round of meetings with the new Polish Ministers of Labor, Culture, Sport, Agriculture and Defense. I expect to continue meeting with new cabinet officials well into December.

     The entire Ashe family would like to wish you and your families a peaceful and happy holiday season and New Year. As always, please contact me directly with any comments or thoughts you have on our work in Poland or this newsletter. My email is Ashevh@state.gov; I respond to all of my emails personally. I welcome ideas on how this newsletter can be made more informative.

Best wishes for a happy 2008.

Sincerely yours,

Victor Ashe
U.S. Ambassador to Poland

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