Prof. Adam Niewiadomski, the UW Vice-Rector for Doctoral and Legal Affairs, Prof. Agata Zalewska, Dean of the Faculty of „Artes Liberales”, Prof. Stanisław Rabiej, and Prof. Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament opened a meeting on the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which was held on 15th November at the UW. It was an opportunity to discuss the challenges of the presidency and to draw particular attention to the role of Ukraine in the European community.

The meeting at the University of Warsaw took the form of an international conference. Guests at the event, entitled „Prezydencja Polski w Radzie Unii Europejskiej – istota, cele i zadania”  (ENG: “The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union – essence, aims and tasks”, included Prof. Hans-Gert Pöttering, the former President of the European Parliament, Prof. Hanna Suchocka, the former Prime Minister, and Bronisław Komorowski, the former President of the Republic of Poland.

“I trust that our meeting will be one of many during which we will deal with the subject of our presence and the role of our country in the structures of the European Union,” Prof. Agata Zalewska, Dean of the Faculty of „Artes Liberales”, said. It was this unit – together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation – that organised the meeting at the University.

An important partner

In addition to the speeches and discussions during the panel sessions, the meeting concluded with a debate „Polska adwokatem Ukrainy w drodze do Unii Europejskiej” (ENG: “Poland as an advocate for Ukraine on its path to the European Union”). The participants discussed, for instance, whether it is legitimate to talk about the advocacy of Poland and other countries in the process of Ukraine’s rapprochement with the European Union and whether this diminishes Ukraine’s status as an independent, strong international player.

“Only a few years ago we were convinced that we were living in one globalising village, that integration processes were proceeding peacefully and that economic, social and political integration was deepening. It has turned out that things are not so simple,” Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, said at the beginning of the debate, adding: “Meeting such eminent people, presenting different points of view, is very valuable in this context”.

European values

The conference was one of the meetings organised under the motto “Europe of Values”. The former President of the European Parliament referred to European values in his speech. “Poland is about to take over the Presidency of the EU Council for the second time. I hope that the time of the Polish Presidency will teach us and give us a renewed and strengthened spirit of European solidarity,” Prof. Hans-Gert Pöttering, said.