📜 Earlier today, Radosław Sikorski (
@radeksikorski), Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered his Exposé. Scroll down to read an excerpt from the address.
🏛️ In Poland, the Exposé is a formal speech delivered by a representative of the executive branch to the members of the legislative branch – the Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Traditionally, it is observed not only by elected Members of Parliament, but also by the President of Poland and the invited Diplomatic Corps in Warsaw.
🇵🇱 The tradition of the Exposé dates back to the rebirth of Polish statehood at the beginning of the 20th century. It resembles similar parliamentary practices in other countries, such as the "Speech from the Throne" in United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries including Canada, as well as the "déclaration de politique générale" in France.
🔎 The Exposé focuses on the international situation, highlighting key diplomatic relationships and engagements, and emphasising the principal objectives of the government’s foreign policy.
🚫 Following the Second World War, the practice of the Exposé by the Minister of Foreign Affairs was discontinued, reflecting the limited sovereignty of Poland under the influence of the Soviet Union.
🕊️ The tradition was revived after the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been observed consistently in democratic Poland since 1990. The history of the Polish state and its rich democratic traditions reminds us of the ongoing importance of vigilance in protecting our freedom and responding to emerging threats.
🇵🇱 The full Exposé is available in Polish via the link 👉
youtube.com/watch?v=KvBbwerb…
💬 An excerpt addressing the topic of the "shadow fleet" and security:
"Poland’s efforts during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union helped strengthen sanctions targeting Russia’s “clunker fleet”, also known as the “shadow fleet”. These are dilapidated vessels - uninsured and sailing under false flags - that Russia uses to smuggle oil. The profits from these sales finance the war. The clunker fleet not only fuels the war machine; it also poses a serious threat to maritime infrastructure and the environment.
At the start of our Presidency, fewer than eighty ships were on the sanctions list. By the end, it was almost four hundred and fifty - on average, two new tankers added every day. Today, it is already six hundred vessels.
Good - but still not enough, which is why we are working to ensure more are gradually added to the list. We respect freedom of navigation, but it must go hand in hand with respect for rules. In every European country, cars on the roads must pass technical inspections and have insurance. The same must apply to ships sailing on waters, including international waters. Vessels that break the rules should be detained.
(…)
Poland’s interest lies in diplomatic engagement to help defuse conflicts that threaten our common security - preventing the escalation of disputes, extremism, and attempts to revise borders"
@PolandMFA