Poland’s European Affairs Minister Konrad Szymański and the UK’s Minister of State for Europe Christopher Pincher talked about “the situation of Poles in the UK,” while also touching on “the situation of British citizens in Poland” when they met in Warsaw at the end of last week, the Polish foreign ministry has said.
Other topics discussed included future trade relations between Britain and the European Union, in addition to security issues, according to the Polish foreign ministry.
Britain’s Pincher visited Warsaw days after his country left the EU and following a speech by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlining a vision of prospective EU-UK relations, the Polish foreign ministry said on its website.
The visit provided an opportunity for the two countries to define their expectations about future economic cooperation between the EU and post-Brexit Britain, the Polish foreign ministry also said.
It added that Poland expected that future economic cooperation between the EU and Britain would be based on an “ambitious” free trade agreement.
“Our objective is for this agreement to be of the most ambitious nature,” Poland’s Szymański was quoted as saying.
Britain formally left the European Union on January 31. A transition period then started that runs until December 31.
After the transition period ends, EU citizens will need “settled status” to be able to stay in the UK.
About 400,000 of 900,000 Polish citizens living in the UK have not yet applied for “settled status.” EU citizens have until June 30, 2021 to apply.
Britain’s ambassador to Warsaw has urged Poles living in the UK not to delay.
A Polish deputy foreign minister said at the end of last month that Britain’s departure from the European Union would not hit Poles living in the UK or Polish firms doing business there.
(gs)
Source: gov.pl