Witold Waszczykowski
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
16 November 2015 – 9 January 2018
Prime MinisterBeata Szydło
Mateusz Morawiecki
Preceded byGrzegorz Schetyna
Succeeded byJacek Czaputowicz
Personal details
Born
Witold Jan Waszczykowski

(1957-05-05) 5 May 1957
Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland
Political partyLaw and Justice
Alma materUniversity of Łódź
University of Oregon
Signature

Witold Jan Waszczykowski (Polish: [ˈvitɔlt vaʂt͡ʂɨˈkɔfskʲi] ⓘ; born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2015 and 2018. Waszczykowski was a Member of the Sejm (2011–2019), and has been the Member of the European Parliament since 2019.

Life and career

In 2016
Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during 2016 Warsaw summit

Waszczykowski was born in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland on 5 May 1957. He is a graduate of the University of Łódź, earning a Master's degree in history, and the University of Oregon, where he received a master's degree in international studies. Waszczykowski completed advanced studies at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Łódź.[1]

He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992. Between 1997 and 1999 he was working at the Permanent Representation of Poland to NATO in Brussels as deputy chief of mission. From 1999 to 2002, Waszczykowski was the Ambassador of Poland to Iran.[2] On 4 November 2005, he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Waszczykowski served as the chief negotiator with the United States on missile defense. He served until 11 August 2008.[3]

From 27 August 2008 to 6 July 2010, Waszczykowski was the Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau.[4] In the 2011 parliamentary elections, he successfully ran for the Sejm.[5] He was reelected in 2015.[6]

Since 16 November 2015, Waszczykowski has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet of Beata Szydło.

On 10 January 2017, he accidentally referred to the country of Saint Kitts and Nevis as "San Escobar" (the mistake reportedly stems from the islands' Spanish name, San Cristóbal y Nieves).[7] This was immediately picked up by newspapers throughout the world, such as The Guardian,[8] The Telegraph,[9] The Washington Post,[10] The New York Times,[11] and Britské listy.[12]

In 2019, he was elected member to the European Parliament, receiving 168.021 votes.[13]

Waszczykowski has been also cooperating with the Sobieski Institute.[14]

Positions held

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Nowa Nauka Polska". nauka-polska.pl. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  2. ↑ Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. VII kadencja. Przewodnik. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe. 2012. p. 454.
  3. ↑ "Waszczykowski odwołany". WPROST.pl (in Polish). 2008-08-11. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  4. ↑ "Biuro Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego - Dymisja zastępców Szefa BBN - Wydarzenia -" (in Polish). 2010-08-26. Archived from the original on 2010-08-26. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "Wybory 2011". wybory2011.pkw.gov.pl. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  6. ↑ "PKW | Wybory do Sejmu RP i Senatu RP". parlament2015.pkw.gov.pl. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  7. ↑ "San Escobar: Polish foreign minister's slip invents a country". BBC News. London: BBC. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2017-01-13. Witold Waszczykowski told reporters he met with representatives of various states for Poland's bid to join the UN security council, "such as Belize or San Escobar".
  8. ↑ Khomami, Nadia (11 January 2017). "Polish minister mocked over meeting with fictional nation of San Escobar". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ Day, Matthew (January 11, 2017). "Poland's foreign minister mocked after naming non-existent country as supporter in bid for UN Security Council seat". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "San Escobar: How Poland's foreign minister helped create a fake country". The Washington Post.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "San Escobar? Polský ministr zahraničí terčem posměchu, že se setkal se zástupcem neexistující země | 12. 1. 2017". Britské listy. January 12, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego 2019". wybory.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  14. ↑ "dr Witold Waszczykowski, Autor w serwisie Instytut Sobieskiego". Instytut Sobieskiego (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-08-08.
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