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Polish FM to chair UN debate on Mideast

20.08.2019 13:00
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz was on Tuesday expected to preside over a United Nations Security Council debate in New York on security in the Middle East.
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek CzaputowiczPhoto: gov.pl

While in New York on Tuesday, Czaputowicz was also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Czaputowicz's three-day visit to the United States includes a meeting with Polish Americans in Chicago on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Czaputowicz is scheduled to lead a United Nations debate on religious freedom.

The debate is among the highlights of Poland’s turn at the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in August.

Poland’s Czaputowicz told reporters in Warsaw last month that his country would organise several high-profile events during its month-long stint at the helm of the council.

These included a high-level briefing on humanitarian law on August 13, alongside Tuesday's debate on security in the Middle East, and Thursday's debate on religious freedom.

Poland on January 1, 2018 became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term that ends on December 31, 2019.

Poland held the rotating presidency of the 15-member council in May last year.

The country again took over at the helm of the council on August 1.

Poland in February hosted an international conference on the Middle East at which foreign ministers and senior officials from 63 nations discussed issues such as missile proliferation, energy security, emerging cyber-based threats, counterterrorism, migration crises and humanitarian aid.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at the time that his country was “committed to play its role in addressing refugee and humanitarian challenges, but most of all peace challenges in the Middle East.”

Morawiecki hailed the two-day gathering a “huge step in promoting a future of peace and security” in that conflict-ridden region.

 (gs/pk)