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ARMENIAN-POLISH RELATIONS STEADILY DEVELOPING

Exactly a year has passed since the day the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Poland started its work in Armenia. An ARMINFO correspondent interviewed Polish Charge d'Affaires to Armenia Piotr Iwaszkiewicz on the Polish Embassy's tasks and on the level of the bilateral relations.

Q: A year has passed since the opening of the Polish Embassy in Armenia. How, in Your opinion, have the Armenian-Polish relations developed during this one year, and what are the achievements?

A: Officially were started working on June 13, 2001, when I presented the credentials to the Armenian foreign minister. This year can be called a period of organization of the Embassy's work, which has not yet expired, as I am waiting for my colleagues who will work at the Consular Service. The number of consular affairs has sharply increased, and people are needed for ensuring normal work of the Consular Service. True, for the time being I can manage this amount of work, however, it prevents me from completely passing to the activities for which I am in this country.

Despite the process of formation of the Embassy Service, the past period was rich in political and other events in the Armenian-Polish relations. As you can recall, Polish President Alexander Kvasnevsky paid an official visit to Armenia last year, accompanied by a large group of businessmen. The Pope also paid a visit, which was a highly important event for us, and the Embassy had to make much effort to be properly prepared for the meeting. We hope that this year will be rich in important events as well.

You may know that a regular economic forum "Poland-East" is to be held in Krenitsa early in September. We hope that the Armenian side will be represented at a most high level. I find it difficult to say who will represent the Armenian side, but, if you remember, the Polish president addressed an invitation to the Armenian president.

Q: Are you satisfied with the level of the Armenian-Polish relations?

A: The sides are cooperating in different spheres, and this cooperation has been intensified, though I cannot say that I am fully satisfied with the scope of the cooperation. It is clear that positive results are impossible to attain in a short period - efforts and consistency are required.

As an example of economic cooperation I can cite a large contract signed in April between the Central Bank of Armenia and the State Mint of Poland for mintage of Armenian coins. As you know, banknotes of small denomination will gradually be withdrawn from circulation to be replaced with metal coins. This cooperation is traditional, and the Armenian coins that are currently in circulation in Armenia were minted in Poland as well.

One can feel that Armenia's business circles seriously consider the Polish market for promoting their products there. The issue of opening an Armenian Trade Center in Warsaw was recently discussed. We hope for these plans to be realized and followed by an increase in the trade turnover, at least on the Armenian side. We would like Polish businessmen to be as active in Armenia as Armenian ones in Poland. And such attempts can already be observed on a relatively large scale as well. I will not go into details of the deals, as they can be a commercial secret, and some of them have not yet been completed. The matter also concerns Poland's purchasing mining raw materials from Armenia.

I often have to meet with Armenian businessmen and exchange information with them, assist in establishing direct contacts between firms and enterprises. I would like to note that statistical data on the trade turnover between our countries, according to which a 50% increase has been registered during the last year (from 2mln. USD to 3mln. USD), registers only large deals without registering the traditional, the so-called shuttle, trade.

Q:As an ex-Soviet country, Poland is, figuratively speaking, the closest to NATO, as it has been its full member since 1999. Are there any contacts with Armenia in this aspect. In a way, Poland is like Armenia and has int interests in the South Caucasus, is it not?

A: Poland has always pronounced for a large-scale cooperation with Armenia under NATO's "Partnership for Peace" program, as well as for NATO's eastward expansion. As you know, the issue of admitting seven states - the Baltic States, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia - to NATO is currently on the agenda. However, we, as the other NATO members, consider it important to expand cooperation with Russia, which has always been and will be a most weighty factor in the security sphere, as well as with other CIS countries. So, we are very much interested in cooperating with Armenia. By the way, the NATO member-countries are satisfied with the gradual development of the Armenia-NATO cooperation. Positive changes have been observed, which are most hope-inspiring. I think it is a most promising direction.

Q: What is the attitude of Poland, as an ex-member of the Warsaw Treaty, and now a NATO member, to the re-organization of the Collective Security Treaty into an Organization?

A: I have not fully got acquainted with this decision of the CST member-countries and I have no information on Poland's official position. If this re-organization consolidates security and intensifies our joint struggle against terrorism, it is a sensible decision. I think that the NATO member-countries and the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will efficiently cooperate. But, for the time being, I will abstain from elaborating on the issue, as I have no official response in this regard.

Q: Do Armenia and Poland have any contacts in the military sphere, for example, in training military specialists?

A: Not yet. But we hope to establish such contacts. It would be a good thing if such contacts were established. There are contacts in training frontier guards. A relatively large delegation of Armenian frontier guards left for Warsaw recently. True, it is a visit in the line of human rights within the framework of the OSCE and the International Organization for Migration. Our countries' frontier services established direct contracts as well.

Good potential for cooperation exists in the military sphere. I know that in this sphere Armenia is closely cooperating with Greece and partly with Great Britain. Poland is also ready to get involved in this process, the more so that Poland's Armed Forces have a wide experience of transformation.

Q: Poland passed the most difficult, perhaps, painful way of economic re-organization. Georgia made an attempt to adopt Poland's experience. What was the result? Does Poland try to offer its services to the Armenian government?

A: Armenia has not yet made such a request. As regards Georgia, to be honest, I do not know about the situation there. Yes, Mr. Leshek Baltserovich consults the Georgian government, but, as we know, two are needed for dancing tango.

- The issue of implementation of global transport-energy projects in topical in Armenia. Bulgaria and Romania are the European gates that are ready to receive cargoes and hydrocarbon raw materials from Central Asia and the Caspian region. But Poland is also interested in the implementation of these projects and, as far as I am concerned, considers itself a further point of destination, considering the port terms.

- The access to these resources and the implementation of the INOGATE and TRACECA projects are of high importance for Poland, and we hope that Armenia will be more involved in these projects. It will balance the situation in the region, which is our concern. Moreover, we are interested in the re-operation of the railway communication running through Armenia to Kars, Gyumri and further. It is important that the reactivation of this transport corridor does not require any huge investments, but political decisions.

I was closely watching the events in Reykjavik, where the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Turkish foreign ministers tried to build at least some political bridges and, among others, discussed the possibility of re-opening the roads. We must take into account that the re-opening of communications is necessary not only for Armenia, but also for Turkey. It is necessary for us as well.

Unfortunately, because of political problems these difficulties have not yet been overcome, and the transport-energy programs remain as it were frozen, especially for Armenia.

Q: What is the attitude of Poland's political circles to the problem of Armenian Genocide?

A: For me of importance is the statement of the Polish president, who called that tragedy a Genocide, urging Turkey to settle this issue. The country's Parliament has not yet discussed this issue, nor is it on the agenda. May be, the Armenian side should be more active. The more so that a parliamentary friendship group was formed at the new Polish Parliament in April. The group consists of 12 deputies and is headed by Antony Menzhidlo of the "Right and Justice" party. His deputy is Lukash Abgarovich, who, judging by his name, has Armenian roots. I hope that in connection with the formation of the group the parliamentary cooperation between will be developing at good rates.

2 June, 2002
Emmanuil Mkrtichian, ARMINFO