The last week has shown the many facets of our bilateral relationship. It began with an excellent seminar on reducing regulation, which we co-hosted with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economy and the Prime Minister’s office. We exchanged experiences with Polish Ministers and experts and agreed that deregulation and reducing burdens on business was key to both our domestic and EU growth agendas. This will be an area for continued close collaboration going forward.
Enough has already been written about the Poland-England game. In diplomatic terms, a draw is always a good result, even if it never wholly satisfies the fans from either country. A leading British football writer rightly talked of the warm welcome fans received in Poland, despite the subsequent events.
But the most emotional moment for me was speaking at an event at the National Army Museum to commemorate General Stanisław Maczek and the brave soldiers of the Polish 1st Armoured Division, together with Defence Minister Siemoniak.
I underlined the special qualities that made General Maczek such an exceptional leader. As ever, it was humbling to meet some of the brave veterans, many of whom endured tough times both during and after WW2.
But it was also great to see a group of children from schools which proudly bear General Maczek’s name. It is important that future generations truly understand the sacrifices made on their behalf and to honour together the enormous contribution British and Polish soldiers made, fighting and dying together, to the peace and prosperity we enjoy today.