Poland
Bureau of European and Eurasian
Affairs
August
2007
Background Note:
Poland
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Republic of
Poland
Geography
Area: 312,683 sq. km. (120,725 sq. mi.); about the size of New
Mexico. Cities (2004):
Capital--Warsaw (pop. 1,690,821). Other
cities--Lodz
(776,297), Krakow (757,957), Wroclaw (636,854), Poznan (573,003),
Gdansk
(460,524).
Terrain: Flat plain, except mountains along southern
border.
Climate: Temperate
continental.
People
Nationality: Noun--Pole(s).
Adjective--Polish.
Population (July 2006): 38.5
million.
Annual growth rate:
Unchanging.
Ethnic groups: Polish 98%, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian,
Lithuanian. Religions: Roman
Catholic 90%, Eastern Orthodox, Uniate, Protestant, Judaism. Language:
Polish.
Education:
Literacy--98%.
Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--7.2/1,000. Life
expectancy--males 71 yrs., females 79
yrs.
Work force: 17.2 million. Industry and construction--29%;
agriculture--16%;
services--54%.
Government
Type:
Republic.
Constitution: The constitution now in effect was approved by a
national referendum on May 25, 1997.
The constitution codifies Poland's democratic norms
and establishes checks and balances among the president,
prime minister, and
parliament. It also enhances several key elements of democracy,
including judicial review and the legislative process, while continuing
to guarantee the wide range of civil rights, such as the
right to free speech, press, and assembly, which Poles have
enjoyed since
1989.
Branches: Executive--head of state (president), head of government
(prime minister). Legislative--bicameral National
Assembly (lower house--Sejm, upper house--Senat). Judicial--Supreme
Court, provincial and local
courts,
constitutional
tribunal.
Administrative subdivisions: 16 provinces
(voivodships).
Political parties (in parliament): Law and Justice (PiS), Civic
Platform (PO), Self-Defense (SO), Democratic
Left Alliance (SLD), League of Polish Families
(LPR), and the Polish Peasant Party
(PSL).
Suffrage: Universal at
18.
Economy
GDP (2006): $265.4
billion.
Real GDP growth (2006):
5.3%.
Per capita GDP (2006):
$14,100.
Rate of inflation (2006):
1.3%.
Natural resources: Coal, copper, sulfur, natural gas, silver, lead,
salt. Agriculture: Products--grains, hogs, dairy,
potatoes, horticulture,
sugarbeets,
oilseed.
Industry: Types--machine building, iron and steel, mining,
shipbuilding, automobiles, furniture,
textiles and apparel, chemicals, food processing,
glass,
beverages.
Trade (2006): Exports--$110.7 billion: furniture, cars, ships, coal,
apparel. Imports--$113.2 billion: crude oil, passenger cars,
pharmaceuticals, car parts,
computers.
PEOPLE
Poland today is ethnically almost homogeneous (98% Polish), in
contrast with the World War II period, when there were significant
ethnic minorities--4.5 million Ukrainians, 3 million Jews, 1
million Belorussians, and 800,000
Germans. The majority of the Jews were murdered during the German occupation
in World War II, and many others emigrated in the succeeding
years.
Most Germans left Poland at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians
and Belorussians lived in territories incorporated
into the then-U.S.S.R. Small Ukrainian, Belorussian, Slovakian,
and Lithuanian minorities reside along the borders, and a German
minority is concentrated near the southwest city of
Opole.
HISTORY
Poland's written history begins with the reign of Mieszko I, who
accepted Christianity for himself and his kingdom
in AD 966. The Polish state reached its zenith under the Jagiellonian
dynasty in the years following the union with Lithuania
in 1386 and the subsequent defeat of the Teutonic Knights at
Grunwald in 1410. The monarchy survived many upheavals but eventually
went into a decline, which ended with the final partition
of Poland by Prussia, Russia, and Austria in
1795.
Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by
President Woodrow Wilson during World War I.
Many Polish Americans enlisted in the
military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at
the postwar conference to ensure its
implementation.
However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their
own
independence in 1918. Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period
before World War II. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union
signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact, which secretly
provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and
Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered
his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet
troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of
this agreement. After Germany invaded
the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely
occupied by German
troops.
The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government
in exile, first in Paris and later in
London, which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II,
400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000
went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the
Polish government in
exile.
In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish
government in exile after the German military announced that they had
discovered mass graves of murdered
Polish army officers at Katyn, in the U.S.S.R.
(The Soviets claimed that the
Poles had insulted them by requesting that the Red Cross
investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered
Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of
National Liberation" at
Lublin.
Resistance against the Nazis in Warsaw, including uprisings by Jews
in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was
brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they
leveled the
city.
During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million
were deported to Germany for forced
labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish
population) were killed in death camps like those at
Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Treblinka, and
Majdanek.
Following the Yalta Conference in February 1945, a Polish
Provisional Government of
National Unity was formed in June 1945; the U.S. recognized it the
next month. Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections,
those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Communist Party. The
communists then established a regime entirely under their
domination.
Communist Party
Domination
In October 1956, after the 20th ("de-Stalinization") Soviet Party
Congress in Moscow and riots by workers in Poznan, there was a shakeup
in the communist regime. While retaining most traditional
communist economic and social aims, the regime of First Secretary
Wladyslaw Gomulka liberalized Polish internal
life.
In 1968, the trend reversed when student demonstrations were
suppressed and an "anti-Zionist" campaign initially directed
against Gomulka supporters within the party
eventually led to the emigration of much of
Poland's remaining Jewish
population. In December 1970, disturbances and strikes in
the port cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, triggered by a
price increase for
essential consumer goods, reflected deep dissatisfaction with
living and working conditions in the country. Edward Gierek replaced
Gomulka as First
Secretary.
Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth
rate was one of the world's highest during the first half
of the 1970s. But much of the borrowed capital was misspent,
and the centrally planned economy was unable to use the new
resources effectively. The growing debt burden became
insupportable in the late 1970s, and economic growth had become negative
by
1979.
In October 1978, the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, became
Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Polish Catholics rejoiced at the elevation of a Pole to the papacy and
greeted his June 1979 visit to Poland with an
outpouring of
emotion.
In July 1980, with the Polish foreign debt at more than $20 billion,
the government made another attempt to
increase meat prices. A chain reaction of strikes virtually paralyzed
the Baltic coast by the end of August and, for the first
time, closed most coalmines in Silesia. Poland was entering into an
extended crisis that would change the course of its future
development.
The Solidarity
Movement
On August 31, 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, led by
an electrician named Lech Walesa,
signed a 21-point agreement with
the government
that ended their strike. Similar agreements were signed
at Szczecin and in Silesia.
The key provision of these agreements was
the guarantee of the workers'
right to form independent trade unions and the
right to strike. After the Gdansk agreement was signed, a new
national union movement--"Solidarity"--swept
Poland.
The discontent underlying the strikes was intensified by revelations
of widespread corruption and
mismanagement within the Polish state and party
leadership. In September 1980, Gierek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania
as First
Secretary.
Alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the PZPR's authority following
the Gdansk agreement, the Soviet Union
proceeded with a massive military buildup along Poland's border in
December 1980. In February 1981, Defense Minister Gen.
Wojciech Jaruzelski assumed the position of Prime Minister as well, and
in October 1981, he also was named party First Secretary. At the
first Solidarity national
congress in September-October 1981, Lech Walesa
was elected national chairman of the
union.
On December 12-13, the regime declared martial law, under which the
army and special riot police were used to crush the union. Virtually
all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals
were arrested or detained. The United States
and other Western countries responded to martial law
by imposing economic
sanctions against the Polish regime and against the Soviet Union.
Unrest in Poland continued for several years
thereafter.
In a series of slow, uneven steps, the Polish regime rescinded
martial law. In December 1982, martial law was suspended, and a
small number of political prisoners were released. Although martial
law formally ended in July 1983 and a general amnesty was enacted,
several hundred political prisoners remained in
jail.
In July 1984, another general amnesty was declared, and 2 years
later, the government had released nearly all political
prisoners. The authorities continued,
however, to harass dissidents and Solidarity activists. Solidarity
remained proscribed and its publications banned. Independent
publications were
censored.
Roundtable Talks and
Elections
The government's inability to forestall Poland's economic decline led
to waves of strikes across the country in
April, May, and August 1988. In an attempt to take
control of the situation, the government gave de
facto recognition to Solidarity,
and Interior Minister Kiszczak began talks with Lech
Walesa on August 31. These talks broke off in October, but a new
series, the "roundtable" talks, began in February 1989. These talks
produced an agreement in April for
partly open National Assembly elections. The June
election produced a Sejm (lower house), in which one-third of the
seats went to communists and one-third went to the two parties which
had hitherto been their coalition partners. The remaining
one-third of the seats in the Sejm and all those in the
Senat were freely contested; virtually all of these were won by
candidates supported by
Solidarity.
The failure of the communists at the polls produced a political
crisis. The roundtable agreement called for a communist
president, and on July 19, the National Assembly, with
the support of some Solidarity deputies, elected
General Jaruzelski to that office. Two attempts by the communists to
form governments failed,
however.
On August 19, President Jaruzelski asked journalist/Solidarity
activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to form a
government; on September 12, the Sejm voted
approval of Prime Minister Mazowiecki and his cabinet. For the first time in
more than 40 years, Poland had a government led by
non-communists.
In December 1989, the Sejm approved the government's reform program
to transform the Polish economy
rapidly from centrally planned to free-market, amended the
constitution to eliminate references to the "leading role" of the
Communist Party, and renamed the country the "Republic of Poland." The
Polish United Workers' (Communist) Party dissolved itself in January
1990, creating in its place a new party, Social Democracy of the
Republic of Poland. Most of the property of the former Communist Party
was turned over to the state.
The May 1990 local elections were entirely free. Candidates supported
by Solidarity's Citizens' Committees won most
of the races they contested, although
voter turnout was only a little over 40%. The cabinet was reshuffled
in July 1990; the national defense and interior affairs ministers--holdovers
from the previous communist government--were among those
replaced.
In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term
of President
Jaruzelski. In December, Lech Walesa became the first
popularly elected President of
Poland.
The Republic of
Poland
The Republic of Poland in the early 1990s made great progress
toward achieving a
fully democratic government and a market economy. In November
1990, Lech Walesa was elected President for a 5-year term. Jan
Krzysztof Bielecki, at Walesa's request,
formed a government and served as its Prime Minister
until October 1991, introducing world prices and greatly expanding
the scope of private
enterprise.
Poland's first free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. More
than 100 parties participated, representing a full spectrum of
political views. No single party received more than
13% of the total
vote.
Since 1991, Poland has conducted five general parliamentary elections
and four presidential elections--all free and fair.
Incumbent governments have transferred power smoothly and
constitutionally in every instance to their successors.
The post-Solidarity center-right and post-Communist center-left
have each controlled the parliament and the presidency since 1991.
Most recently, Poles elected Law and
Justice (PiS) candidate and Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski to a
5-year term as President. Kazcynski narrowly defeated
Civic Platform (PO) candidate Donald Tusk and was sworn in December
23,
2005.
PiS was also the top vote-getter in September 25, 2005,
parliamentary elections.
After coalition talks with runner-up PO collapsed, PiS
alone formed a minority government
under Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Frustrated
by its inability to achieve its legislative program alone, PiS
formed a formal coalition government with Self-Defense (SO) and the
League of Polish Families (LPR) in April 2006. In July 2006, Prime
Minister
Marcinkiewicz resigned and was replaced by PiS party leader
Jaroslaw Kaczynski as
Prime
Minister.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The current government structure consists of a council of ministers
led by a Prime Minister, typically chosen from the majority coalition
in the bicameral legislature's lower house (Sejm). The president,
elected every five years for no more than two terms, is the head of
state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The
judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making.
The parliament consists of the 460-member Sejm and the 100-member
Senat, or upper house. The new constitution and the reformed
administrative division (as of 1999) required a revision
of the election ordinance (passed in April 2001). The most
important changes were liquidation of a national list (all
deputies are elected by voters in electoral districts) and
introduction of a new method of calculating seats (the modified St.
Lague method replaced the d'Hondt method, thus eliminating the
premium for the top parties). The law stipulated that
with the exception of guaranteed seats for small
ethnic parties, only parties receiving
at least 5% of the total vote could enter
parliament.
Parties represented in the newly elected Sejm are Law and Justice
(PiS), Civic Platform (PO), Self-Defense
(SO), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the League of Polish
Families (LPR), and the Polish Peasant Party
(PSL).
Principal Government
Officials
President--Lech Kaczynski
(PiS)
Prime Minister--Jaroslaw Kaczynski
(PiS)
Deputy Prime Minister--Przemyslaw Gosiewski
(PiS)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance--Zyta Gilowska
(PO)
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development--Wojciech
Mojzesowicz
Minister of Transport--Jerzy
Polaczek
Minister of Health--Zbigniew
Religa
Minister of Science and Higher Education--Micha³
Seweryñski
Minister of Interior and Administration--W³adys³aw
Stasiak
Minister of National Defence--Aleksander
Szczyg³o
Minister of Environment--Jan
Szyszko
Minister of Culture and National Heritage--Kazimierz Micha³
Ujazdowski Minister, Member of
the Council of Ministers--Zbigniew
Wassermann
Minister of Economy--Piotr Grzegorz
WoŸniak
Minister of Justice--Zbigniew
Ziobro
Minister of Construction--Miros³aw
Barszcz
Minister, Member of the Council of Ministers, Head of the Chancellery
of the Prime Minister--Mariusz
B³aszczak
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Anna
Fotyga
Minister of Regional Development--Gra¿yna
Gêsicka
Minister of Marine Economy--Marek
Gróbarczyk
Minister of Sport and Tourism--El¿bieta
Jakubiak
Minister of State Treasury--Wojciech
Jasiñski
Minister of Labour and Social Policy--Joanna
Kluzik-Rostkowska
Minister of National Education--Ryszard
Legutko
Coordinator for Special Services--Zbigniew Wassermann
(PiS)
Ambassador to the United States--Janusz
Reiter
Deputy Chief of Mission--Woijciech
Flera
Poland maintains an embassy in the United States at 2640 16th St.
NW, Washington, DC 20009
(tel. 202-234-3800/3801/3802); the consular annex is at 2224 Wyoming
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-234-3800). Poland has
consulates in Chicago, New York City, and Los
Angeles.
ECONOMY
The Polish economy grew rapidly in the mid-1990s, slowed considerably
in 2001 and 2002, and returned again to healthy growth rates in 2003.
Poland's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of
5.2% in the first quarter of
2006. Faster growth has begun to reduce persistently
high unemployment,
from nearly 20% in the middle of 2004 to 16.5% in May 2006.
Tight monetary policy and dramatic productivity growth have helped to
hold down inflation, which was 2.1% in 2005. Likewise,
Poland's current account deficit, which grew rapidly in
the late 1990s, has since moderated to 1.4% of GDP in 2005. The 2005
budget deficit was 27.5 billion zloty, or 2.8% of GDP in 2005,
and the current government pledged to restrain the 2006 and
2007 budgets at 30 billion
zloty.
Throughout the 1990s, the United States and other Western countries
supported the growth of a free enterprise economy by reducing Poland's
foreign debt burden, providing economic aid, and
lowering trade barriers. Poland graduated from U.S Agency for
International Development (USAID) assistance in 2000 and paid the
balance of its U.S.-held Paris Club debt in 2005. Poland officially
joined the European Union (EU) on May 1,
2004.
Agriculture
Agriculture employs 16.1% of the work force but contributes only 5%
to the gross domestic product (GDP), reflecting
relatively low productivity. Unlike the industrial sector, Poland's
agricultural sector remained largely in
private hands during the decades of communist rule. Most of the former state
farms are now leased to farmer tenants. Lack of credit is hampering
efforts to sell former state farmland. Currently, Poland's 2
million private farms occupy 90% of all farmland and
account for roughly the same percentage of total
agricultural production. These farms are small--8 hectares (ha)
on average--and often fragmented. Farms with
an area exceeding 15 ha accounted for only 9% of the total
number of farms but cover 45% of total agricultural area. Over half
of all farming households in Poland produce only for their
own needs with little, if any, commercial
sales.
Poland is a net exporter of confectionery, processed fruit and
vegetables, meat, and dairy products. Processors often
rely on imports to supplement domestic
supplies of wheat, feed grains, vegetable oil, and protein meals,
which are generally insufficient to meet domestic demand. However,
Poland is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye and is
one of the world's largest producers of sugarbeets. Poland also is a
significant producer of rapeseed, grains, hogs, and
cattle. Attempts to increase domestic feed grain production are
hampered by the short growing season, poor soil, and the small size of
farms.
Pressure to restructure the agriculture sector intensified as Poland
prepared to accede to the European Union, which is unwilling to
subsidize the vast number of subsistence farms that
do not produce for the market. The changes in agriculture are
likely to strain Poland's social fabric, tearing at the
heart of the traditional, family-based small farm as the younger
generation drifts toward the cities. Nonetheless, dramatically
increasing agricultural exports to the EU-15 (38% growth in
2005) and payments to farmers from
Brussels following accession have enriched Polish commercial farmers
and dramatically increase support for EU
membership in Poland's rural areas.
Industry
Before World War II, Poland's industrial base was concentrated in the
coal, textile, chemical, machinery, iron, and steel sectors.
Today it extends to fertilizers, petrochemicals, machine
tools, electrical
machinery,
electronics, and
shipbuilding.
Poland's industrial base suffered greatly during World War II, and
many resources were directed toward
reconstruction. The communist economic system imposed in the late
1940s created large and unwieldy economic structures
operated under a tight central command. In part because of this
systemic rigidity, the economy performed
poorly even in comparison with
other economies in
central
Europe.
In 1990, the Mazowiecki government began a comprehensive reform
program to replace the centralized command economy with a
market-oriented system. While the results overall have been
impressive, many large state-owned industrial enterprises,
particularly the railroad and the mining, steel, and defense
sectors, have remained resistant to the change and downsizing
required to survive in an open market
economy.
Economic Reform Program and Direct Foreign
Investment
The economic reforms introduced in 1990 removed price controls,
eliminated most subsidies to industry, opened markets to
international competition, and imposed strict budgetary and monetary
discipline. Poland was the first former centrally planned economy in
central Europe to end its recession and return to growth in the
early 1990s. The private sector now accounts for
over two-thirds of
GDP.
In early 2002, the government announced a new set of economic reforms
known as the Hausner Plan, designed in many ways to complete
the process launched in 1990. The package acknowledged the need
to improve Poland's investment climate,
particularly the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises,
and better prepare the economy to compete as a European Union (EU)
member. The government also aimed to improve Poland's
public finances to prepare for eventual adoption of the euro. Though
the government was able to enact only portions of the Hausner
Plan, those successes coupled with
successful monetary efforts
to strengthen the zloty, have put Poland within reach of the National
Bank's goal of Euro accession in
2008-2009.
As a result of Poland's growth and investment-friendly climate, the
country has received over $85 billion in direct foreign
investment (DFI) since 1990, with roughly $7 billion in 2004 alone.
According to a recently publish report by Ernst and Young, Poland is
tied with Germany as the most attractive
destination for foreign investment in Europe. The availability of
cheap land and a large, relatively skilled labor force are among
Polish strengths. However, the
government continues to play a strong role in the economy, as
seen in excessive red tape and the high level of politicization in
many business decisions. Investors
complain that state regulation is
not transparent
or predictable, and the economy suffers from a lack
of
competition in many sectors, notably
telecommunications.
Foreign
Trade
With the collapse of the ruble-based COMECON trading bloc in 1990,
Poland scrambled to reorient its trade. As early as
1996, 70% of its trade was with EU-15 members, and neighboring
Germany today is Poland's dominant trading partner.
Most of Poland's imports are capital goods needed for
industrial retooling and for manufacturing inputs,
rather than imports for consumption. Therefore, a deficit is expected
and should even be regarded as positive at this point. Poland,
a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and European Union, applies the
EU's common external tariff to goods from other
countries--including the
U.S.
In the year after it joined the EU, Poland experienced an overall
growth in exports of 30%. This growth was not confined to trade
among EU partners: while exports to EU
countries rose by 27%, exports to developing countries
rose by 46%, and exports to Russia rose an unexpected 77%. Poland's
trade balance continued to improve, with export
growth significantly outpacing import growth.
Opportunities for trade and investment continue to
exist across virtually all sectors. The
American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, founded in
1991 with seven members, now has more than 300 members. Strong
economic growth potential, a large domestic market, EU membership,
and political stability are the
top reasons U.S. and other foreign companies do business in
Poland.
FOREIGN RELATIONS AND NATIONAL
SECURITY
Poland became an associate member of the EU and its defensive arm,
the Western European Union, in
1994. In a June 2003 national referendum, the
Polish people approved EU accession by an overwhelming margin, and
Poland gained full membership in May
2004.
Changes since 1989 have redrawn the map of central Europe, and Poland
has had to forge relationships with seven new neighbors. Poland has
actively pursued good relations, signing friendship treaties
replacing links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw
Pact. The Poles have forged special relationships with Lithuania and
particularly Ukraine in an effort to firmly anchor these states to the
West.
Poland became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) in March 1999 as part of the first wave of enlargement
outlined at the July 1997 NATO Summit in Madrid. Poland's top
national security goal is to further integrate with NATO and other
west European defense, economic, and political institutions while
modernizing and reorganizing its military. Polish military doctrine
reflects the same defense posture as its Alliance
partners.
Poland maintains a sizable armed force currently numbering about
140,572 troops divided among an army of
87,877, an air and defense force of 31,147, and a navy of
21,548. Poland relies on military conscription for the majority of its
personnel strength. All males (with some exceptions) are subject to a
12-month term of military service. The Polish military continues
to restructure
and to modernize its equipment. The Polish Defense
Ministry General Staff and the Land
Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a
NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure. Although
budget constraints remain a
drag on modernization, Poland has been able to move
forward with U.S. assistance on acquiring 48 F-16 multi-role
fighters, C-130 cargo planes, HMMWVs, and other items key to the
military's restructuring.
Poland continues to be a regional leader in support and participation
in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has actively engaged
most of its neighbors and other
regional actors to build stable foundations for future
European security arrangements. Poland continues its long record of
strong support for UN peacekeeping operations by
maintaining a unit in Southern Lebanon, a
battalion in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), and by providing
and actually deploying the KFOR strategic
reserve to Kosovo. Polish military forces
have served in both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan
and Operation Iraqi
Freedom.
Poland assumed command of a multinational division of stabilization
forces in Iraq (MDN-CS) on September 3, 2003. Poland and its MND-CS
partners have worked effectively since
then to stabilize south central Iraq while working to train
Iraqi forces to take over MND-CS responsibilities and
operate
independently.
U.S.-POLISH
RELATIONS
The United States established diplomatic relations with the newly
formed Polish Republic in April 1919. After
Gomulka came to power in 1956, relations with the United States began
to improve. However, during the 1960s, reversion to a policy of full
and unquestioning support for Soviet foreign
policy objectives and anti-Semitic
feelings in Poland caused those relations to
stagnate. U.S.-Polish relations improved significantly after Gierek
succeeded Gomulka and expressed his interest in improving relations
with the United States. A consular agreement was
signed in
1972.
In 1974 Gierek was the first Polish leader to visit the United
States. This action, among others, demonstrated that both sides
wished to facilitate better
relations.
The birth of Solidarity in 1980 raised the hope that progress would
be made in Poland's external relations as well as in its
domestic development. During this time, the United States provided
$765 million in
agricultural
assistance. Human rights and individual freedom issues, however, were
not improved upon, and the U.S. revoked Poland's
most-favored-nation (MFN) status in response to the Polish
Government's decision to ban Solidarity. MFN status was reinstated in
1987, and diplomatic relations were
upgraded.
The United States and Poland have enjoyed warm bilateral relations
since 1989. Every post-1989 Polish government
has been a strong supporter of
continued American military and economic presence in Europe. As well
as supporting the Global War on Terror,
Operation Enduring Freedom
in
Afghanistan, and coalition efforts in Iraq, Poland cooperates closely
with American diplomacy on such issues as
democratization, nuclear proliferation, human rights, regional
cooperation in central and eastern Europe, and UN
reform.
The street address and international mailing address of the U.S.
Embassy in Poland is Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, 00540 Warsaw,
Poland; tel: 48-22-504-2000; fax 48-22-504-2688. The Consulate General
in Krakow is at Ulica Stolarska 9, 31-043 Krakow, Poland; tel:
48-12-424-5200; fax: 48-12-424-5100; and a
Consular Agency in Poznan is at Ulica Paderewskiego 8, 61-708 Poznan,
Poland; tel: 48-61-851-8516; fax:
48-61-851-8966.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe
trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov.
For additional information on international
travel, see http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizenstraveling or
residing abroad to register via the State
Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S.
embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and
whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on
security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http:// www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
*********************************************************** See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/ for all
Background
notes ************************************************************ To
change your subscription, go to http://www.state.gov/misc/echannels/66822.htm
Poland
