Flemish visit to Poland and Latvia to focus on solidarity, energy and culture
Flemish minister president Jan Jambon will visit Poland and Latvia on Monday and Tuesday. Shortly after the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he wants to underline Flanders’ solidarity with EU member states in the region.
Meetings are planned in Warsaw on Monday with representatives of prime minister Donald Tusk’s newly sworn-in government. In Riga on Tuesday, Jambon will meet prime minister Evika Silina and the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Climate and Energy and Culture.
Jambon is leading a delegation of business leaders interested in offshore wind energy, which is in the early stages of development in Latvia. The aim is to promote Flemish expertise in the Latvian-Estonian offshore wind energy project ELWIND. There is also a focus on port infrastructure cooperation and on Rail Baltica, which will connect the Baltic states with Finland and Poland.
Long economic partnership
Poland and Flanders have a trade tradition going back several centuries. Poland was the first foreign partner to conclude an agreement with Flanders in 1994 and it was the region’s eighth largest export partner last year.
In Warsaw, Jambon will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to the First Polish Armoured Division. The division, led by General Stanislaw Maczek, played an important role in the liberation of Belgium 80 years ago during World War II. There is a monument to General Maczek in the centre of Beveren, East Flanders, to mark the events.
Jambon will also visit the National Museum in Warsaw, which houses an important collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings. The National Library in Riga, meanwhile, is hosting an exhibition about Niclaes Mollijns, an Antwerp-born printer who moved to Riga in the 16th century and installed the first printing press in the city.
Jambon travelled to Poland a year ago after visiting Ukraine. He met staff at the Medevac hub, which transferred injured and sick Ukrainian people to hospitals in Europe.
#FlandersNewsService | Jan Jambon (centre) during a visit to the Medevac transit centre in Jasionka, Poland, January 2023 © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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