On 5 March 2010, the OSW hosted a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, the prospects for the creation of the so-called northern route, the evolution of attitudes towards the ISAF mission in the Central Asian states, and the political processes currently taking place in the region.
The participants included representatives of the State Administration and experts dealing with Afghanistan and Central Asia issues.
On 15 December 2009, OSW hosted a meeting devoted to the realities of the expert community's functioning in Brussels and the ways to improve the visibility of the Polish analytical thought in debates at the EU level.
An active Polish policy within the European Union requires a stronger presence of the Polish analytical thought and expertise in the EU debate. This is particularly important as Poland is about to take over the EU presidency.
At the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), acting in co-operation with the Natolin European Centre (CEN), is implementing the project "EU public diplomacy – Inspirations for Poland". The project's aim is to answer the following questions:
The project's research team includes: Dr Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz (OSW), Dr Olaf Osica (CEN), Antonina Michałowska (OSW), and Szymon Ananicz (OSW).
As part of the project, the OSW held a round table on "EU public diplomacy – Inspirations for Poland" on 15 December. The meeting included public administration officials and representatives of Poland's leading think tanks. Its objective was to discuss the preliminary conclusions and recommendations drafted by the OSW/CEN research team after the first round of research in Warsaw and in Brussels. The introductory speech was delivered by Mr Rafał Wiśniewski (Director General of the Foreign Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Dr Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz (OSW Deputy Director) presented the research results.
An international seminar devoted to the Russian security and defence policy after the Georgian war – was held at the OSW on 4 December 2009. The seminar featured experts from Poland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia.
Speakers:
Wojciech Konończuk – Russian Department, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), Warsaw;
Natalia Orłowska-Chyż – Security and Defence Department, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), Warsaw;
Dr Carolina Vendil Pallin – head of the Russian Project, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Stockholm;
Fredrik Westerlund – Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Stockholm;
Hanna Smith – Aleksanteri Eurasia Energy Group, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki;
Dr Jakub Godzimirski – head of the Energy Programme, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Oslo;
Dr Tor Bukkvoll – Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), Oslo;
Kadri Liik – director, International Centre for Defence Studies (RKK), Tallin;
Riina Kaljurand – deputy director, International Centre for Defence Studies (RKK), Tallin.
The seminar was moderated by Mr. Marek Menkiszak – head of the Russian Department, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW).
The meeting consisted of two sessions. The first was devoted to the greatest challenges of Moldova's internal policy, i.e. the policy of the Alliance for European Integration, the chances for a democratic breakthrough and the risk of a façade democracy steppin in again. The second session focused on the challenges of Chisinau's relations with Moscow and Bucharest.
The lecture “European Perspective of the Balkan Countries – the Case of the Republic of Macedonia” of Mr. Antonio Misolski – the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia was held at the OSW on 18 November 2009. The meeting was organised in co-operation with the demosEuropa.
The Working Group on EU Eastern Policy held another meeting on 7 October. The meeting was devoted to the political situation in Moldova.
An short introduction to the discussion was presented by Ms Anna Kostrzewa, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eastern Department.
The parliamentary election in July has radically changed the political situation in Moldova. After eight years of Communist rule, four opposition parties have come to power and formed a coalition under a telling name: Alliance for European Integration. The new ruling group is facing massive challenges. Considered to be the poorest country in Europe, Moldova is struggling with deep recession due to the global economic crisis. The political situation remains difficult owing to, inter alia, a strong polarisation of the society, large sections of which still back the communist party. The coming months will be very important, if not decisive, for the future of the country. For this reason, the support that will be offered to Moldova by the EU as a whole and by individual Member States will be of crucial importance.
During the meeting we discussed, on the one hand, the significance of Moldova for the future fate of the Eastern Partnership, and on the other, the specific assistance that should be provided to this country by Poland and the European Union.
The Working Group on EU Eastern Policy was created at the initiative of the OSW and the Batory Foundation in October 2004 as a discussion forum for representatives of state institutions and non-governmental experts.
Its objective is to develop specific proposals that could be helpful in the formulation and development of Poland’s eastern policy in the EU based on Poland’s earlier experience in co-operation with the Eastern neighbours.
A seminar devoted to the Polish-Ukrainian relations, organised in co-operation with the editorial board of the Nowa Europa Wschodnia bimonthly, was held at the OSW on 2 October 2009.
Brief introductions to the discussion were presented by:
Tadeusz A. Olszański (OSW)
Andrzej Szeptycki (UW)
The Orange Revolution seemed to mark the beginning of Ukraine’s way towards Euro-Atlantic integration, but five years on, the country is struggling with a political and economic crisis and in fact remains in the same position in which it was back in 2004. Viewing itself as Ukraine’s advocate in Europe, Poland did not manage to help Ukraine enter the path of rapid development. In the meantime, a sense of exhaustion emerged in the relations between the two states. Declarations about strategic partnership did not lead to genuine co-operation, and cracks appeared in the Polish-Ukrainian historical reconciliation. Do we need to re-think the relations between Kyiv and Warsaw? This is one of the questions that the seminar participants tried to answer.
The Polish-Czech Analytic Platform was inaugurated on 24 September at the Warsaw Belweder Palace. The participants on the Polish side include the Centre for Eastern Studies and the Polish Institute of International Affairs, and on the Czech side – the Prague Institute of International Relations (Ústav mezinárodních vztahů - UMV), the Association for International Affairs in Prague (Asociace pro mezinárodní otázky - AMO) and the International Institute of Political Science of Masaryk University in Brno (Mezinárodní politologický ústav Masarykovy univerzity - IIPS).
The objective of the new initiative is to develop closer co-operation between experts of both countries in order to assist the Polish and Czech diplomatic services in the pursuit of common interests in bilateral relations and in the international arena. The Platform’s activities will involve monitoring of the Polish-Czech relations and analysis and approximation of positions with regard to bilateral co-operation on current international challenges. The Platform will publish reports drafted by a mixed team of experts.
This year, the annual meeting of OSW friends took place on 11 September.
The fifth anniversary of the death of Marek Karp, the founder of OSW and its director of many years, was commemorated with Holy Mass at the Church of St. Martin and a visit to his grave in the Powązki Cemetery.
At 5 pm. a debate entitled “To the East via Brussels? The dilemmas of Poland’s eastern policy after fiver years of membership in the European Union” was hosted by the OSW.
The discussion was moderated by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz (Deputy Director of OSW). Introductory speeches were delivered by:
Piotr Serafin (Secretary of State at the Office of the Committee for European Integration)
Rafał Trzaskowski (Member of European Parliament)
Adam Eberhardt (Deputy Director of OSW)
The celebrations ended with a reception at the OSW Library Room.
On 4 September, a seminar was held at the OSW, devoted to the German attitudes towards the country’s past (Nazism, World War II, etc.) and the current shape of German patriotism. The seminar also dealt with the question of Polish-German historical dialogue.
The seminar featured:
Waldemar Czachur (Center for International Relations)
and Krzysztof Marcin Zalewski (Centre for Eastern Studies).