Ambassador Victor Ashe

Greetings from Warsaw!

October has been a very active month for us in Poland. We have commemorated anniversaries of several milestone events, both happy and sad; hosted a famous actress promoting cancer awareness; and begun the negotiation of implementing agreements related to the Bilateral Missile Defense Agreement signed in August between Poland and the United States.

Poles have shown a very strong interest over the past year in the U.S. Presidential election, and the several public appearances in Warsaw, Krakow and Katowice of the Embassy-sponsored speaker David Iverson, a producer for the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, saw large crowds. We have also received numerous requests from schools, universities, and other groups throughout Poland to attend their events with an election theme.

Warsaw’s central event for Election Night will be an event the American Chamber of Commerce is arranging at Warsaw’s Intercontinental Hotel, for which the Embassy is one of the main sponsors. We have given our support in planning, financing, and supplying personnel and materials for an event that will kick off at 7:00 pm and continue until the sun rises. A band and DJ will entertain those die hard election fans who have both the curiosity and stamina to await the returns, which will only start to come in at about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, local time. A who’s who list of Warsaw will be there, including Polish officials and businessmen, students, representatives of U.S. companies in Poland, and of course many members of the AmCham and Embassy staffs. Poland’s three largest television news stations will set up mini-studios at the event for live coverage and will even broadcast their morning shows from the hotel in order to cover the AmCham’s election wrap-up breakfast at 7:30 Wednesday morning, at which I will be one of the panelists.

Consulate General Krakow will also be hosting election day events in Katowice and Wroclaw. I will participate in the Wroclaw event before returning to Warsaw for the AmCham gathering.

Before we move on to the elections at the start of next month, we are currently wrapping up a final visit to Warsaw of Lt Gen Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, the outgoing Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Yesterday he visited Slupsk and Redzikowo, the future site of the missile defense facility in Poland, for meetings with local and military officials. Today he participated in a breakfast at my Residence with senior Polish officials before speaking for a public forum co-organized by the Embassy and Poland’s Center for International Studies (CSM) at the Warsaw School of Economics (Szkola Glowna Handlowa). He also gave several interviews for Polish television and press before departing Poland. He was accompanied on the visit by Major General Patrick J. O’Reilly, Deputy Director of MDA, who is slated to replace General Obering as Director of the agency.

Important milestones were commemorated this month, including the 30th anniversary of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla becoming Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978. To mark this significant occasion in modern Polish history, I hosted a lunch on October 14 for senior Catholic Church officials at my residence, where we planted a memorial oak tree in honor of the late Pope. Also this month, another great Pole – former President and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa – celebrated both his 65th birthday and the 25th anniversary of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A more solemn occasion was the 24th anniversary October 19 of the murder by Polish Communist security forces of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the spiritual pillar of the Solidarity trade union.

October also saw the Polish military successfully complete its mission in Iraq, handing over control of their zone to the Iraqi authorities. The Polish government celebrated the return of the last Polish soldiers from Iraq with a special ceremony in Szczecin on October 29. U.S. Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack praised “the sacrifices Poland and the Polish military have made in Iraq” during an October 21 press conference in Washington, DC. “We all honor their service. We’re grateful for their service. They were there at the very beginning. And we’re quite proud of the work that they have done there and the sacrifices that they have made.” The U.S. Embassy has also recently recognized Poles’ service in Iraq and Afghanistan by joining allies in a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, honoring veterans with a reception and medal ceremony at my residence at which I presented Brigadier General Wojciech Grabowski and retired Colonel Paweł Hejna with the United States Army's Meritorious Service Medal, and by my issuing a public statement of thanks on behalf of the American people. While Polish troops have left Iraq, they have stepped up their presence in Afghanistan and taken responsibility for a district there.

There was no shortage of cultural activities during the month. The highest profile was certainly the visit to several cities in Poland by American actress Fran Drescher, best known for her title role in the television program “The Nanny.” She came here as part of her tour through Europe to promote cancer awareness as a Public Diplomacy Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. During her visit, I hosted a reception for the Alumni Association (of past participants in Embassy and State Department exchange programs), which raised money for a Polish cancer research foundation. Also this month, we hosted the visits of writer of spy thrillers and New York Times reporter Alex Berenson and soprano singer Eleanor Valkenburg, Artistic Director of the Poetica Musica consortium of musicians.

As our month draws to a close with Halloween festivities, our Polish hosts are focusing on family with All Saints' Day on November 1, when many Polish families will gather and visit the cemeteries where their departed loved ones have been laid to rest and leave candles and flowers. For those who have not witnessed this solemn occasion, I assure you that it is truly a moving site. The glow of candles and halo of smoke over the cemeteries after sunset is a remarkable image. A recent visitor to Poland, writer Allen Paul, has captured this beautifully in an editorial that Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza will print on the holiday.

In addition to this celebration and the U.S. elections at the beginning of the month, November will have much to offer. Poland will celebrate the 90th anniversary of its independence on November 11 with a major celebration to which President Bush will send an official high level delegation. This will be the first of many events planned to mark the reemergence of Poland onto the international scene at the end of World War I, as we will be planning events with the Polish government throughout the coming year to mark 90 years of U.S.-Polish diplomatic relations. Also coming up in November, we will have a visit of George Zamka, an American astronaut with Polish roots, to mark the 50th anniversary of NASA. I will also host a piano recital at my residence by one of our current American Fulbright scholars in Poland, as well as receptions for the Special Olympics and for Polish Olympic athletes and American athletes playing in the Polish basketball league.

I wish you all a wonderful November as we choose our next President and celebrate another Thanksgiving on November 27.

Sincerely yours,
Victor Ashe

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