Poland sending Waszczykowski to Davos

The 47th annual World Economic Summit is underway in Davos, Switzerland this week, and Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski will take part in the discussions beginning on Wednesday. He will meet with the head of EU foreign minister, Federiką Mogherini, and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, among others, according to Ministry spokesperson Joanna Wajda. Waszczykowski will be in the Swiss city until Friday. On Thursday, he will participate on a panel devoted to security in Europe that will include the future Secretary General of NATO, among other experts. They will discuss perspectives of the common security and defense policy of the EU in the context of new threats to European security and the changing situation both within Europe and in its neighborhood and the migration crisis. According to the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Witold Waszczykowski wants emphasize in the discussion the issue of cooperation between the EU and NATO and to remind the panel of the need to continue to implement the decisions of NATO summit in Warsaw. President-elect Trump has, this week, referred to NATO as “obsolete.” Wajda also stated the position of the Polish government with respect to immigration and refugees. “[We are] from the beginning in favor of strengthening the external borders of the EU.” The annual Davos summit is attended by both government representatives and leaders in private industry. Hence, it gives the participants a relatively unique opportunity to converse and exchange ideas in an informal manner with a broad range of experts and diplomats.