Ambassador’s regional visit to Warmia & Mazury
British Ambassador to Poland Robin Barnett visited the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship on 22-24 June
The aim of the visit was to discuss the present social and political situation in the region as well as to discuss opportunities for further British investment there.
Ambassador Robin Barnett raised those with local authorities of both the region and the towns he visited – Olsztyn, Rybno, Lubawa, Nowe Miasto Lubawskie, Kurzętnik and Lidzbark Warmiński. During the visit the Ambassador also discussed commercial diplomacy opportunities for the UK with local entrepreneurs. At a meeting with secondary school students in Rybno Ambassador Barnett answered a variety of on the current Polish-British relations and – 31 years after his first posting to Poland - explained why he so much wanted to return and become the Ambassador to Poland.
A historical aspect of the trip got the Ambassador acquainted with the heritage of Nicholas Copernicus, the Battle of Grunwald and, more contemporarily, the Second World War, when he visited a forester’s lodge where British airmen had found shelter.
While in Olsztyn and as part of the Paralympic legacy, the Ambassador also met with Polish Paralympians who had been so successful during the Paralympics in London last year. This was a follow up to the Ambassador’s previous visit to the region when, in Elbląg, he had attended the screening of “The Road to London” – a film documenting the preparations of Poland’s wheelchair basketball team for the Paralympics.