On 27th June, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the UW Rector, and Étienne de Poncins, the Ambassador of the French Republic to Poland, signed an agreement on temporary siting of the French Institute for Research on the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Northern Asia at the University of Warsaw.

I am very happy that we have signed this agreement. It is part of a broader collaboration between the University of Warsaw and French institutions, which goes many centuries back. However, particularly noteworthy is our partnership during the last fifty years, when Poland experienced obstacles in terms of freedom of travel. We have always felt the support of the French Embassy. It is also visible in the activities of our Centre for French Culture and Francophone Studies, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the UW Rector, said.

The signed agreement concerns the temporary siting of the French Institute for Research on the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Northern Asia (IRECA) at the University of Warsaw. The institute will resume its analyses of societies inhabiting the indicated geographical context, currently affected by hostilities.

I am very pleased that our months-long project has finally come to a conclusion. I appreciate the quality of the dialogue with the University of Warsaw at all levels. I would specially like to thank the Rector, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, and Prof. Zygmunt Lalak, the UW Vice-Rector for Research, for their continued support. Thanks to the agreement, we will develop new tools for collaboration. Among our ambitious goals is a better understanding of this part of Europe – a continent of many shared values, whose heritage we should protect, the French Ambassador emphasised.

IRECA will operate as part of the UW’s Centre for French Culture and Francophone Studies (PL: Ośrodek Kultury Francuskiej; OKF). The signing ceremony was also attended by Dr Laurent Tatarenko, the Director of the OKF, Prof. Andrzej Szeptycki, the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and representatives of the French Embassy in Poland.