BAKU: The long history of Polish-Azerbaijani friendly ties is a good foundation for further development of bilateral relations, Rafal Poborski, Polish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend in an exclusive interview.
“The dynamics of contacts over the last four years differs. In 2020-2021 period we observed a slow-down caused by COVID-19 restrictions. However, since 2022 Poland and Azerbaijan have not only managed to return to the pre-pandemic level of contacts but also started developing cooperation in new areas. One of the important steps that enabled us to foster people-to-people contacts and economic cooperation was the opening of direct flights between Warsaw and Baku in May 2022. This connection, operated by Poland’s national carrier LOT Polish Airlines, is very popular among Azerbaijanis traveling to Poland for studies and work. It also contributes to increasing the number of Poles visiting Azerbaijan, for tourist but also business purposes. It naturally helped to facilitate contacts between state insti
tutions too,” he said.
Ambassador Poborski believes that in 2024 the bilateral cooperation between Poland and Azerbaijan will be even more intensive than over the past couple years. He expressed hope that the long-planned Polish-Azerbaijani meetings at the highest level will take place in the coming months.
Furthermore, the diplomat pointed out several areas where Azerbaijan and Poland have already established successful cooperation. Regarding the transport sector, he noted that Poland and Azerbaijan are situated at the crossroads of international transport corridors that link Europe and Asia.
“So, growing roles of our countries as logistic and distribution centers are natural. Within the emerging and developing transport corridors, we support the development of transport and logistics cooperation with Azerbaijan while also building its position as an international transport and logistics hub between East and West. After the Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 24, 2022, and due to international
sanctions that affect connections via Belarus and Russia, the Middle Corridor is an interesting alternative. Poland’s interest in the development of this corridor was confirmed by signing a letter of intent on cooperation between the Baku International Sea Trade Port and the Polish Port of Gdansk in 2022. A few meetings of the bilateral working group of both ports representatives have already taken place,” he elaborated.
He mentioned that there is also strong potential for cooperation in the renewable energy sector between the two countries. Specifically, several Polish producers could enter the developing green energy market in Azerbaijan
“In addition to its huge hydrocarbon reserves, Azerbaijan is also a potential green energy powerhouse, and therefore, we welcome the decision of your authorities to pay more attention to renewables, the role of which will only increase in the future. Polish companies could contribute to building this new and lucrative branch of Azerbaijani economy just as Polish engineers
helped develop your oil and gas industry more than 100 years ago. We will be happy to support any initiatives to strengthen our cooperation in this area,” he said.
According to the ambassador, Poland is successfully diversifying away from the reliance on fossil fuels, and the share of renewable energy resources in its energy mix is steadily growing.
“The capacity of renewable energy installations in Poland reached a record of over 28.8 GW at the end of 2023. Renewables generated 26 percent of Poland’s electricity in 2023, up from 19.3 percent the previous year. The increase – together with the dynamic and abrupt development of renewables – would not be possible without the technical thoughts, innovations, and solutions in this field contributed by Polish entrepreneurs. The Polish domestic energy companies are playing a key role in this process by developing photovoltaic projects and initiating the implementation of offshore wind energy projects on a large scale. We also see enormous potential for hydrogen t
echnologies that could be implemented in industries where electrification is not technically or economically feasible. This is reflected in the activities of our research institutes and companies successfully developing hydrogen technologies across the entire value chain,” Poborski noted.
The diplomat also provided an update on the implementation of cooperation with Azerbaijan within the V4-Azerbaijan Tech Bridge (V4ATB) program, initiated by the Polish Embassy in 2022 and completed in 2023.
“The one-and-a-half-year program was implemented by the Visegrad Group (V4, Czech-Hungarian-Polish-Slovak) consortium led by the Startup Hub Poland Foundation. Its goal was to enhance cooperation and interaction between V4 countries and Azerbaijan startup ecosystems. And this goal was achieved. Over 160 Azerbaijani startups applied to participate in the program. The international jury selected 80 out of them who took part in the intensive training, workshops, bootcamps, and meetings with partners (like investors, accele
rators, and business angels) from the V4 countries. The 10 best Azerbaijani projects reached the semi-finals of the program which took place in Baku in June of 2023. As a result of the program, many V4 investors had the opportunity to take a closer look at the potential of Azerbaijani innovators, and Azerbaijani startups gained knowledge about V4 markets and ecosystems,” he explained.
As a result of this cooperation, the ambassador believes that new joint innovative technological solutions and products of Polish-Azerbaijani origin could emerge in the European and world markets.
“Relations established during the V4ATB program and its finale in Baku are already paying off and will continue to bear fruit in the future. The number of visits of representatives of the Azerbaijani innovation ecosystem to Poland is increasing, and we also expect further visits of Polish partners to Azerbaijan. We are ready to implement similar programs if there is interest from the Azerbaijani side. Poland, with its current innovat
ions and startup support programs, is the best place for young high-tech companies interested in developing their business and ideas on the UE market. Polish investors, venture capital, and private equity funds are actively looking for attractive investment targets and innovative projects around the world. Azerbaijani startups and innovative entrepreneurs could take advantage of this offer and the related opportunities. As a result of such cooperation, new innovative technological solutions and products of Polish-Azerbaijani origin could appear in the European and world markets,” he said.
Rafal Poborski also emphasized that fields of cooperation such as education, science, and culture are key factors in the development of bilateral relations between Poland and Azerbaijan.
“During my more than four-year term as ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Baku, I have always attached great importance to people-to-people contacts, believing that they allow us to get to know and understand each other better. For ex
ample, almost every month delegations from Polish universities and think tanks come to Azerbaijan to develop bilateral scientific and student exchange as well as to promote study opportunities in Poland. Currently, a delegation of over 20 scientists and students from Postgraduate Eastern Studies at Warsaw University is staying in Baku – during their visit, they have been meeting with Azerbaijani experts to better understand Azerbaijan’s history and current developments in the South Caucasus,” the ambassador noted.
He also pointed out the successful cooperation between Polish and Azerbaijani artists, and spoke about the role of the Embassy in enhancing these relations.
“In December 2023, our Embassy and the Arts Council Azerbaijan co-organized workshops ‘Poland through the eyes of Azerbaijani artists’ for 10 Azerbaijani painters who made artworks thematically related to Polish history, culture, etc. This event took place in the ‘open studio’ formula at the ‘Nur Art House’ gallery at Baku’s old town with the
participation of i.a. the Polish community and Azerbaijani art lovers. In March 2024 we presented in the State Puppet Theater in Baku a photographic exhibition ‘Polish Puppetry Art,’ showing examples of puppets and marionettes from Poland photographed by the Azerbaijani artist and art curator Aydin Sadikhov. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Baku organizes events to promote knowledge about Poland in Azerbaijan and Polish-Azerbaijani historical and cultural ties. One of our most recent projects in this area concerns the contribution of Polish engineers living at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries to the development of oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan. At the beginning of 2024 we sponsored the publication of the book on Witold Zglenicki (1850-1904) – a Polish inventor, geologist and philanthropist, little known in Azerbaijan, whose discoveries made a significant contribution to the development of the Azerbaijani gas and oil sector. In February the Embassy and the National Museum of the History of
Azerbaijan organized the promotion of this book in Azerbaijani language version. In April 2024 we promoted the English version of this publication to readers in Azerbaijan,” he said.
When speaking about the future prospects for the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Poland, the ambassador emphasized that recent months have seen many developments that have created favorable conditions for this process.
“With newly created governments in Poland and Azerbaijan we gained new dynamism in political ties. We count on participation in major international gatherings in Baku such as COP29 and National Urban Forum. My country welcomes the steps taken by Azerbaijan to normalize relations with Armenia and the delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conditional border in April 2024. Stability and peace in the South Caucasus will surely bring new opportunities for inhabitants of the region but also for Poland. It could be related to the reconstruction of Karabakh and liberated territories for example. Polish
experts – architects, engineers, but also specialists in the protection and reconstruction of historic monuments – could provide support to the Azerbaijani side in projects implemented in these areas. But there are also other business chances that I presented, educational cooperation, people-to-people contacts, cultural ties and so on. We should do our outmost to fully use the existing potential of Polish-Azerbaijani cooperation. I believe that we are on the right path,” he added.
Ambassador Poborski, highlighting the celebration of Poland’s national holiday, Constitution Day, noted that it laid the foundation for good and active Polish-Azerbaijani cooperation at the beginning of the 20th century and in the past three decades.
“Today we celebrate a special day for Poles around the world – 233rd anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of May 3rd 1791. This Constitution was the first one in Europe and the second in the world after the United States. It was a modern basic law regulating the state syste
m and the relations between authorities and citizens of multiethnic and multi-confessional Republic of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania that together constituted the Commonwealth of Two Nations. It was so modern that authoritarian neighbors of Poland – being afraid of its influence on their own subjects – invaded, partitioned and occupied the country for the next 123 years. But the Constitution of May 3rd 1791 was a guiding light for Poles, Lithuanians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and many other repressed nations that fought in Europe for their freedom in the XIX century. Also for nations seeking independence in the Tsarist Russian Empire, Azerbaijanis among them. It is no coincidence that soon after achieving political independence in 1918 both Poland and Azerbaijan adopted Constitutions based on fundamental freedoms and equal democratic rights for all their citizens irrespective of their ethnic, religious, political or gender status. That phenomenon repeated in 1990 when Poles and Azerbaijanis were getting r
id of the Communist legacy. It created the fundaments of good and active Polish-Azerbaijani cooperation at the beginning of the XX century and in the past three decades. The legacy of the Constitution of May 3rd 1791 is still valid today for Polish-Azerbaijani relations,” Rafal Poborski concluded.
Source: Trend News Agency