By Karol Bachura*
On Tuesday, May 26, 2020 a transport will start off from Warsaw carrying Polish assistance for six Western Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Serbia. 70 tons of Polish aid, comprising over 60,000 liters of disinfectant and 600,000 surgical masks, will go to hospitals and the most needy people in the entire region.
The aid will be delivered by a motorcade of trucks from the Polish Firefighters who have been in Albania before in December 2019 bringing Polish aid for the affected in the tragic November earthquake.
The aid responds to the current needs of the recipient countries, notified among others as part of NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Center (EADRCC). The aid provided is a symbolic expression of Poland’s international solidarity in the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative socio-economic effects.
From the beginning of the pandemic, Poland has emphasized the importance of international cooperation. Our moral duty is to show solidarity and help others in this difficult time. Earlier, Poland had already provided assistance in the context of the fight against COVID-19, including Italy, Spain, the Eastern Partnership countries, with particular emphasis on Belarus and Ukraine, or the Holy See and the Papal Almoner. Further assistance activities are also planned. Moral duty in the year of centennial of the birth of Pope Saint John Paul II and solidarity in the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the “Solidarity Trade Unions” which toppled the communist regime in Poland. Through this aid both of the above go hand in hand in delivering aid to the Albanian Peoples.
The coronavirus pandemic is accompanied by increased cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns from third countries. There are many false narratives about the alleged lack of capacity of individual states and institutions to manage the crisis and undermining the solidarity of the West, mainly NATO and the EU. Most of these narratives are transmitted through pro-Kremlin channels and then reproduced by the – often unaware of the truth, international media. In the early stages of the pandemic, Poland also fell victim to misinformation and had to correct false information, such as the one about the alleged confiscation by Polish customs of personal protective equipment purchased by other countries. Effective opposition to these attacks requires close cooperation on the part of NATO allies and EU member states. In the case of the Western Balkans, it is the European Union and its Member States that are by far the largest aid donors, also in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the emerging narrative promoted by third countries.
Polish humanitarian aid for the Western Balkans is a confirmation of the importance we attach to friendly relations with the countries of the region, which have intensified in recent years.
Poland consistently and actively supports the countries of the Western Balkans on their path to European integration. This applies to both the political sphere (Poland is one of the most active proponents of the enlargement policy at the EU forum) and the practical sharing of our experience with the countries of the region during the accession negotiations (for example through established bilateral forms of experience sharing – The Belgrade Conference; The Skopje Conference and The Tirana Conference).
Last year, Poland presided over the Berlin Process – an initiative supporting the integration of the Western Balkans with the European Union. As part of the Polish presidency, the culmination of which was the Western Balkans Summit in the Polish city of Poznan in July 2019, over 100 events were organized in Poland and the Western Balkans region, with Poland providing over EUR 1.5 mln. for infrastructure development in the region.
As a meaningful symbol of Polish solidarity with the countries of the region was Poland’s declaration of support for the reconstruction of Albania after the tragic earthquake last year in the amount of EUR 2.7 million. These funds will be spent on objectives that will also be used to further strengthen the resilience of state structures to crises, including natural disasters.
We also work to strengthen the capacity of the administration of the Western Balkan countries, including through the forum of “Enlargement Academy” organized every year since 2015 for officials from the Western Balkan countries, or the participation of Polish entities in twinning projects in the region – so far 13 of such projects with Polish participation have been completed, and two are currently being implemented: in the Albanian Road Administration (ARRSH), with the participation of a team of Polish experts, which aims to improve the management of road infrastructure in Albania. and after the success of the twinning project completed in 2019 with the AL Audit Institution (ALSAI), entitled “Strengthening of external auditing capacities”, in which the Supreme Audit Office of Poland was the lead partner, Poland solely is currently implementing a similar project in Kosovo “Further strengthening of Kosovo National Audit Office impact”.
We also focus our activities on youth. Since 2017, in cooperation with the Krzyżowa/Kreisau foundation (Stiftung Kreisau für Europäische Verständigung), the German embassy in Warsaw, as well as with the participation of the European Commission regional representation office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland organizes annual seminars for young people from the Western Balkans, Poland and Germany: “Remembrance, Understanding, Future”. As part of the Polish Presidency of the Berlin Process, the Western Balkan countries were also included in the scholarship “Banach Program” of the Polish government offering full-time studies in Poland in the field of engineering and technical sciences, agriculture as well as natural sciences). The Polish side financed also 6 scholarships (one for each of the Western Balkan countries) at the College of Europe in Natolin, Poland.
Poland actively participates in ensuring stability and security in the region, through the Polish Military Contingents as part of the KFOR forces in Kosovo and the EUFOR/ALTHEA operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Polish Police Special Unit in EULEX mission in Kosovo, the support of the Polish Border Guards in Northern Macedonia. We also provided financial support to programs aimed at combating illegal arms trafficking or counteracting corruption in the region. Polish border guards also perform the mission in Albania as part of the FRONTEX agency ‘Flexible Operational Activities Western Balkans’. The Polish Soldiers side by side with the Albanian Forces serve in NATO missions in Latvia, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Relations with the Western Balkans will be one of the important elements of the Polish presidency of the Visegrad Group, which begins on July 1 this year.
EU enlargement policy and support for the political, economic and social transformation of the region should remain a strategic priority for the European Union, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to the European Commission’s presentation of “An economic and investment recovery plan for the Western Balkans region” due in autumn this year.
*Mr. Karol Bachura is Ambassador of Poland to Albania
