A senior Polish government official has sparked new economic activity and industrial commitments between his country’s leaders and their Filipino counterparts.
Last week, Undersecretary Marcin Przydacz led a delegation from the Polish Foreign Ministry that made a stopover in 3 Southeast Asian countries, starting in Singapore and ending in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the high-level representative met with local advertising bigwigs as well as Manila-based Polish data generation corporations affiliated with the Philippine International Chamber of Commerce, the “Digital Transformation 2. 0” on July 13.
Przydacz is of the opinion that Poland and the Philippines “have done well. . . in terms of. . . economies, leveling in one way or another the popular way of life of our societies [and] our two nations. “
In a discussion with metro manila media, he spoke at length about the effects of Russian aggression against Ukraine for having “very negative repercussions [and] effects on the formula of global markets,” which led to skyrocketing energy costs as well as inflation rates. .
Poland’s foreign minister also foresees a imaginable food crisis, which he said could be “very damaging to our two countries. “
“All of these phenomena are deeply rooted in the Kremlin’s competitive foreign policy, which seeks to recreate a sphere of influence through. . . Central and Eastern Europe, as in the nineteenth century,” he said. “In the twentieth century, many European nations were colonized in Central Europe. . . through the Eastern superpowers, and Ukraine is one of them. We cannot allow Russia to recreate a colony called Ukraine.
He went on to say that any country that seeks to destroy this architecture creates a harmful scenario for many others: “We do not need to move back into any sphere of influence, we must stick to the regulations that were established many years ago. , the foreign order is the most productive [the one in which we can] live.
Przydacz suggested that the global network adhere to foreign regulations and help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty, insisting that “it does not deserve to be Moscow, [but the Ukrainian country that will decide] its own future. “
The Polish government official referred to Ukraine as a vital grain producer and a catalyst for food security in many countries in Africa and Asia. However, Russian fleets blockaded several ports, preventing the former from exporting their grain across the Black Sea. That is why his country, he explained, is doing everything possible to get its besieged neighbor to ship this grain through Polish ports to Asia and many other countries.
“It turns out that our Russian neighbors are not very satisfied with this. They have also limited their own grain exports to Asian and African countries to create disorder for all of us,” he said. “This is the most productive situation for Russia [But we cannot allow it to use famine as an instrument. Although smaller, we seek to show our solidarity with Ukraine, as well as with Asian and African countries, to help our partners at this difficult time.
Here are excerpts from the Polish official’s interview about his engagement with members of the local press:
What express message did you bring to the Philippine government?Have you also discussed the option of expanding the modernization of the military?
PRZYDACZ: First of all, and most importantly, we are in a position to begin our discussion on political and economic cooperation with the Philippines. Our marketers are in a position not only to offer the products, but some of them are also in a position to invest. And here in the Philippines, there are some in a position on the floor who are doing smart business.
Here there are already entrepreneurs who are offering new products for their economy, to make it even more competitive, even if they are already competitive enough. But there is room for improvement for all of us. Economic and political cooperation will therefore have to be deeply rooted.
The message of the moment, of course, is to communicate about the demanding security situations that await us in any of the regions: Central Europe and Southeast Asia. We closely followed what was happening in the South China Sea. It is natural for me to read our reports, but also to communicate with real experts on the floor and meet with them in Manila.
As far as our security and defense cooperation is concerned, there were many products presented through the Polish industry in the Philippines. We are in a position to continue this intelligent collaboration. As I have heard, your government is very satisfied with the quality of the products we have provided, especially with the competitive prices. We are in a position to continue with this smart coverage.
What do you think of the scenario of global power in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the use of power as an obvious detail of militarization?
On energy security: many of our European partners were very [dependent] on Russian energy resources. Poland is not entirely dependent; 10 years ago we trusted one hundred percent in the power of Russia after its invasions of Georgia and then Donbass. We have understood perfectly well that our eastern neighbour can use it as a tool for blackmail, its foreign policy and exert pressure on us.
At that time, our government to diversify energy resources. We built a special liquefied herbal fuel terminal [to have more independence] from other suppliers in the Gulf countries and transatlantic partners. With oil, we also have our own resources.
With coal, even though it’s not the biggest source and the highest popularity right now, we’re very independent in that regard. But this is not the case for many other European Union (EU) Partners. Unfortunately, in 2015 and in 2016, [they warned that] it was not a smart resolution to rely so much on Russia, not least because we were so critical of the Nordstrom 2 pipeline, which connected Germany to Russia.
Our EU partners have criticized us for not being open enough to identify smart relations, adding economic relations, with Russia at this time. I think it’s quite understandable that we have doubted more about irrational power resources. That was the imaginable situation for him to use this as a weapon. The militarization of power is a fact, and it is not just a challenge today. We [were] simply isolated from Russian power, [as were] the Scandinavian countries.
But I am almost certain that the EU will survive. We will locate [other sources]. In a way, it will cost us dearly, because we were not prepared as before the EU. Now is the time to pay the price. If we did it in 2015, the scenario will be a little bigger now.
Of course, recession can happen, not just because of war, but that’s just one factor. Another is inflation, which is also entrenched. So in this post-Covid situation, we are running hard enough for such a scenario.
Some traders may try to move their companies from the EU to Asia. At the moment, we cannot practice such a phenomenon on a large scale. I think lately we live in a “global village. ” Although after the pandemic, there is a bit of “retreat from quasi-globalization”.
We all work very hard to avoid this kind of recession scenario, because once it starts in the EU or the US, we can also work hard to avoid this kind of recession scenario. In the U. S. , the effects are also visual here in the region. So let’s work globally on this as well, as soon as possible, to put an end to this war. . . and return to general and predictable relationships. Let’s focus on that. The most vital thing now is to avoid recession.
How do you and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs see the solution of the scenario in Ukraine?Is it going to continue for many months or years?
That’s a very smart question, however, [it would be more up to Russia’s leaders to answer, because they] this war. . . they know where and how far they are willing to go and fight.
What I can assure you is that Ukrainians are very determined to continue the struggle, because they know that they are fighting for their freedom, their sovereignty and their rights. They are very motivated to do so. All they want is our support, and it shouldn’t just come from the EU or. . . of the collective West.
I guess. . . the like-minded coalition: all friends of foreign law, and all countries that are not in a position to return to the concept of superpowers or the colonial past, deserve that Ukraine send everything it needs. , and punish the culprits of this war.
So when I am asked about the imaginable scenario, I am quite sure that Ukraine will fight until it wins this war and regains sovereignty over the entire component of the occupied territories. But it will probably be a little more.
But let me repeat: we cannot allow any superpower to dominate the smaller countries, because once we allow Russia to do so with Ukraine, it is a very harmful situation for each and every country in the world.