Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych) is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-national political organisations such as the European Union and United Nations. It is considered to be one of the most important offices of state. The head of the ministry is a full secretary of state and thus holds a place in the Council of Ministers.

The current seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, located on Szucha Avenue

During the inter-war period the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was housed in the rococo Brühl Palace in central Warsaw

The MSZ's new extension, Articom office building at 21 Szucha Avenue, which in 2011 displayed a large-scale version of Poland's then-presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Remit and responsibilities of the ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible primarily for maintaining good, friendly relations between the Polish Republic and other states. In doing so it is required to act primarily as a representative of the Polish people. To this end all Polish diplomatic missions around the world are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassadors, whilst receiving their credentials from the President of Poland, are employees of the foreign ministry and are recommended to the President for their posts by the minister of foreign affairs.

The ministry is considered to be one of Poland's most important, with the minister of foreign affairs ranking amongst the most influential people in Polish politics. This position is typically reserved for seasoned, professional politicians, and is thought to require a great deal of tact and intellect.

History

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was first established, with Leon Wasilewski as its secretary, under the authority of the Regency Council when Poland regained (albeit in name only) its independence from the occupying German forces in the First World War. However, the ministry began to fulfil its ascribed duties truly only after the fall of the Regency Council, adoption of the Treaty of Versailles and the rise to power of Józef Piłsudski. The ministry was then, until 1939, located in central Warsaw, with its seat in the Brühl Palace on Piłsudski Square. During the Second World War, the ministry was evacuated, along with the rest of the Polish government, first to France and then onwards to London, where it formed part of the Polish government in exile. During this period Count Edward Raczyński, a man who was later to become President of the government in exile, was the minister responsible. After 1945, when most countries began to afford diplomatic regocnition to the new communist government in Warsaw, at the expense of the government in exile, the authorities of the new People's Republic of Poland refounded the ministry and appointed, as its first minister, Edward Osóbka-Morawski.

Since 1989 and the establishment of the Third Republic, the ministry and its staff have been located in a complex of buildings on Aleje Szucha in central Warsaw, not far displaced from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

The current minister of foreign affairs is Radosław Sikorski, a career politician educated at the University of Oxford, who was previously Minister for National Defence, and who has in the past served as both a member of the Sejm and the Senat.

Structure

Regional affairs departments

The departments for regional affairs exist to monitor the internal situation and politics of the countries within the area of any one specific department's competence. They coordinate development of bilateral relations, initiate the related undertakings and prepare evaluations. These departments oversee the issue of Poland’s participation in the structures of multilateral cooperation with any relevant partner states, as well as handling interregional cooperation. They are responsible for the substantive activity of relevant Polish diplomatic missions abroad.

Currently the Following regional affairs departments exist:

• Department for Africa and the Middle East
• Department of America
• Department for Asia and the Pacific
• Department for Proceedings Before the International Protection of Human Rights bodies of
• Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy
• Department of Economics of the European Union
• Department of the Committee for European Affairs
• Department of Consular Affairs
• Department of the United Nations and Human Rights
• Department of Security Policy
• Department European Policy
• Department of European Union Law
• Department of Law - The Treaty
• Department of Foreign Policy Strategy
• Department Eastern
• Department of Economics
• Department of Development Cooperation
• Department of Polonia and Poles Abroad
• Operations Center
• The Secretariat of the Minister
• Office of Administration
• Office of Archives and Information Management
• Office of the Director -General
• Office of the Director of the Political
• Office of Finance
• Office of Information Technology and Telecommunications
• Office for Infrastructure
• Office of Human Resources and Audit
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Office
• Personal Affairs Office
• Inspectorate Foreign Sluzby
• Diplomatic Protocol

Ministers of Foreign Affairs (since 1989)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Spraw Zagranicznych
Incumbent Witold Waszczykowski since 16 November 2015
Formation	26 November 1917
First holder	Leon Wasilewski
Website	www.msz.gov.pl

Political Party:       PO       PiS       SLD       UW       PZPR       SdRP

Portrait		Name (Born-Died)	Party	Term of Office		Prime Minister (Cabinet)
		Krzysztof Skubiszewski (1926–2010)	Nonpartisan	12 September 1989	25 October 1993	Tadeusz Mazowiecki Jan Krzysztof Bielecki Jan Olszewski Hanna Suchocka
		Andrzej Olechowski (1947–)	Nonpartisan	26 October 1993	6 March 1995	Waldemar Pawlak
		Władysław Bartoszewski (1922–2015)	Nonpartisan	7 March 1995	22 December 1995	Józef Oleksy
		Dariusz Rosati (1946–)	SdRP	29 December 1995	31 October 1997	Józef Oleksy Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
		Bronisław Geremek (1932–2008)	UW	31 October 1997	30 June 2000	Jerzy Buzek
		Władysław Bartoszewski (1922–2015)	Nonpartisan	30 June 2000	19 October 2001	Jerzy Buzek
		Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (1950–)	SLD	19 October 2001	5 January 2005	Leszek Miller Marek Belka
		Adam Daniel Rotfeld (1938-)	Nonpartisan	5 January 2005	31 October 2005	Marek Belka
		Stefan Meller (1942–2008)	Nonpartisan	31 October 2005	9 May 2006	Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
		Anna Fotyga (1957–)	PiS	9 May 2006	16 November 2007	Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz Jarosław Kaczyński
		Radosław Sikorski (1963–)	PO	16 November 2007	22 September 2014	Donald Tusk
		Grzegorz Schetyna (1963–)	PO	22 September 2014	16 November 2015	Ewa Kopacz
		Witold Waszczykowski (1957–)	PiS	16 November 2015	Incumbent	Beata Szydło

Previous officeholders

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)

• Wojciech Rostworowski (26 November 1917 – 27 February 1918) – Director of the Department of Political Affairs
• Janusz Radziwiłł (4 April 1918 – 23 October 1918) – Director of the Department of State
• Stanisław Głąbiński (23 October 1918 – 4 November 1918) – Minister for Outside Affairs

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 2nd Republic of Poland (1918–1939)

• Leon Wasilewski (17 November 1918 – 16 January 1919)
• Ignacy Jan Paderewski (16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919)
• Władysław Wróblewski (13 December 1919 – 16 December 1919)
• Stanisław Patek (16 December 1919 – 9 June 1920)
• Eustachy Sapieha (23 June 1920 – 24 May 1921)
• Jan Dąbski (24 May 1921 – 11 June 1921)
• Konstanty Skirmunt (11 June 1921 – 6 June 1922)
• Gabriel Narutowicz (18 June 1922 – 14 December 1922)
• Aleksander Skrzyński (16 December 1922 – 26 May 1923)
• Marian Seyda (28 May 1923 – 27 October 1923)
• Roman Dmowski (27 October 1923 – 14 December 1923)
• Karol Bertoni (19 December 1923 – 19 January 1924)
• Maurycy Zamoyski (19 January 1924 – 27 July 1924)
• Aleksander Skrzyński (27 July 1924 – 5 May 1926)
• Kajetan Dzierżykraj-Morawski (10 May 1926 – 15 May 1926)
• August Zaleski (15 May 1926 – 2 November 1932)
• Józef Beck (2 November 1932 – 30 September 1939)

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Polish Government in Exile (1939–1945)

The Polish Government-in-Exile had a wide international recognition until 1945, and limited to just few countries until the 1970s

• August Zaleski (30 September 1939 – 25 July 1941)
• Edward Raczyński (22 August 1941 – 14 July 1943)
• Tadeusz Romer (14 July 1943 – 24 November 1944)
• Adam Tarnowski (29 November 1944 – 10 February 1949)
• Mieczysław Sokołowski (7 April 1949 – 8 December 1953)
• Aleksander Zawisza (8 August 1955 – 11 June 1970)
• Jerzy Gawenda (20 July 1970 – 14 July 1972)
• Jan Starzewski (18 July 1972 – 15 December 1973)
• Bronisław Hełczyński (17 January 1974 – 15 July 1976)
• Zygmunt Zawadowski (5 August 1976 – 1 September 1979)
• Kazimierz Sabbat (1 September 1979 – 7 April 1986)
• Zygmunt Szkopiak (1986 – 20 December 1990)

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of Poland (1944–1989)

• Edward Osóbka-Morawski (21 July 1944 – 2 May 1945)
• Wincenty Rzymowski (2 May 1945 – 5 February 1947)
• Zygmunt Modzelewski (6 February 1947 – 20 March 1951)
• Stanisław Skrzeszewski (20 March 1951 – 27 April 1956)
• Adam Rapacki (27 April 1956 – 22 December 1968)
• Stefan Jędrychowski (22 December 1968 – 22 December 1971)
• Stefan Olszowski (22 December 1971 – 2 December 1976)
• Emil Wojtaszek (2 December 1976 – 24 August 1980)
• Józef Czyrek (24 August 1980 – 21 July 1982)
• Stefan Olszowski (21 June 1982 – 12 November 1985)
• Marian Orzechowski (12 November 1985 – 17 June 1988)
• Tadeusz Olechowski (17 June 1988 – 9 September 1989)

External links

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
• Home Ministry in the version of the archive
• Polish diplomatic missions abroad
• Foreign missions in Poland