No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.” The words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, which may be an unduly cynical place to start or a welcome dash of reality, depending on one’s point of view. Be that as it may, many continue to set great store by the potential of international conferences to offer new solutions to hitherto intractable problems. And they don’t come much more intractable, it seems, than peace in the Middle East. Thus, Poland enters the fray with plans to hold an international conference on the subject in Warsaw in February.
According to the US State Department, the United States and Poland will jointly host a ministerial meeting to promote peace and security in the Middle East in Warsaw on 13-14thFebruary. “The ministerial will address a range of critical issues including terrorism and extremism, missile development and proliferation, maritime trade and security, and threats posed by proxy groups across the region,” a State Department statement said.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to Gulf Cooperation Council countries, told Fox News that the meeting would “focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security,” including “an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.” The GCC “is essential to countering the single greatest threat to regional stability: the Iranian regime,” the State Department said on Friday, adding Pompeo’s visit to GCC countries is aimed at building support for the US campaign of pressure against Iran.
Needless to say, this news has not been well received in Iran. As reported by PAP, on Sunday the Iranian foreign ministry summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Polish embassy in Tehran to protest against the conference. The chargé d’affaires, Wojciech Unolt, was told that the decision to host the conference was considered to be to be “an act of hostility towards Iran.” According to the Iranian state agency IRNA, Unolt was also informed that Iran might decide to implement retaliatory measures, although he explained the aim of the conference and said it was not anti-Iranian in nature.
As a first step, the Iranian ministry of culture on Sunday announced the suspension of a Polish film festival planned for later this month in Tehran, which suspension would continue until the Polish authorities show proper behaviour towards Iran. Mohammed Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister tweeted on Friday: “Reminder to host/participants of anti-Iran conference: those who attended last US anti-Iran show are either dead, disgraced, or marginalized. And Iran is stronger than ever. Polish Govt can’t wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts desperate anti-Iran circus.”
It seems unlikely that the Polish government will be deterred. The Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday that “Poland considers the Middle East peace issue as one of the most important challenges for foreign and defence policy. Halting fighting in this conflict-ridden region is a fundamental issue for ensuring global stability and peace.” The Polish foreign ministry said on Sunday that “the international community has the right to discuss various regional and global issues, and Poland [has the right] to co-organise a conference whose goal is to develop a platform for actions promoting stability and prosperity in the Middle East region.”
The hope of Poland’s foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz is that the US and EU positions on Iran will be brought closer and that the conference will make it possible to build a lasting platform for dialogue. According to him, invitations to the conference have been sent to more than 70 countries, including EU member states and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
It is perhaps a sign of Poland’s growing confidence in international affairs that it should have chosen to have venture onto this particular diplomatic minefield so publicly. If the conference is a success, it will underline Poland’s position as an increasingly important diplomatic force within the EU and beyond. Given the differing EU and US positions on Iran, some nimble foot work will be required if Poland is to derive lasting benefit from this particular foray into the fraught world of Middle East politics. Supporting the US may well be in Poland’s long-term interests, but with minefields as with much else in life, successfully to rush in where angels dare to tread, requires great fortitude.
The first wave of Armenians immigrated to Poland as early as in the 12th century. With time, they became increasingly numerous in Eastern Poland, where the city of Lwów became their cultural center from early on.
The Armenian community was known for being fiercely loyal to its new home country. Polish-Armenian soldiers fought in many of the most famous Polish military battles such as the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 against the Teutonic Order and the Battle of Varna in 1444 against the Ottoman Empire.
They were given religious liberty and political privileges by the Kings of Poland. For example, Casimir III gave to the Armenians of Kamieniec Podolski in 1344 and those of Lwów in 1356 the right of setting up a national council, consisting of twelve judges who came to administer Armenian matters without much influence by the Polish king,
Today, thousands of Armenians still live in Poland, with several Polish-Armenian associations safeguarding their traditions and interests.
Poland Daily History was fortunate to be given the opportunity to speak with one of their representatives, Maciej Bohosiewicz from the Armenian Foundation, about the long history of the Polish-Armenian community.
It is rare to see two siblings as talented and successful – and on the same artistic level – as the Gierymski brothers were, and their story is a worthy chapter in the history of art.
Maksymilian Gierymski, born in 1846 and the elder of the two brothers, started his education in Warsaw. His talents were quickly acknowledged, and he was soon awarded a scholarship that enabled him to continue his studies in Munich, where he rapidly became popular. Art collectors and critics were taken by the young man’s realistic, yet melancholic pieces. At the age of only 23 he had managed to create an utterly individual painting style, and one of his pieces was duly acquired by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Yet in contrast to his quick rise to fame in Germany and Austria, Maksymilian felt unappreciated in his native Poland, which he loved dearly.
Aleksander Gierymski, the younger brother who was born in 1850, took a similar path, also choosing to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Thanks to the path that Maksymilian had already forged, and the relative wealth that he had accumulated, Alexander was able to develop his skills with ease, and quickly won a gold medal for one of his earliest works.
In a twist of fate so typical for the geniuses of the 19th Century, Maksymilian Gierymski’s blossoming career and young life ended abruptly when he died in 1874 at the age of 28, leaving his brother behind a fair inheritance. During his short life, Maksymilian Gierymski managed to create a remarkable collection of works, with most of the pieces that he is known and appreciated for having been painted during a four year period of his life, undeniably making him one of the precursors of Realism in Polish art
One year after the death of his elder brother, Aleksander returned to Poland, only to be faced with the fact that out of his whole family, only one of his two sisters was still alive. The remainder of the clan had died a few years earlier, while the other sister has been carelessly buried alive. To Aleksander, this whole string of tragic events in turn became the source of many melancholic and sad influences in his art. Even though he was successful as an artist, he was never truly satisfied with his work, nor with his life. All of this negativity eventually led him to become a miserable and sickly man, and later in his life he succumbed to mental illness. Aleksander Gierymski passed away in a mental hospital in Italy in 1901.
In the end, the first of the two immensely talented brothers was considered a melancholic while the second was a miserable and unstable man steeped in sorrow. To their great credit, however, both Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski shared a love and passion for art which was reflected in their undeniable talent, and which continues to live on in the legacy that they left behind for the world to appreciate.
Paweł Adamowicz, the recently reelected Mayor of Gdansk was stabbed during the annual charity event “Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. According to the Minister of Interior, Joachim Brudziński, Adamowicz was seriously wounded in the attack.
The attack took place on Sunday, January 13th during the Grand Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Gdansk.
The Mayor was standing on the stage as the attacker suddenly leaped towards him. After the attack, the assailant remained on stage and grabbed as microphone to tell the audiance his motive for the attack. The man claimed that he had been imprisoned for 5 years as an innocent man during the years that the Civic Platform party ruled in Poland. He continued by saying that this was the reason why he had stabbed the Mayor associated with that party and that this was the reason why the Mayor had to die.
The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has condemned the attack and has asked the Minister of Interior to keep him updated with information about the case. The Prime Minister also writes that he is praying for the Mayor.
Information is still sparse at the moment. it has been announced that the authorities will hold a press conference tomorrow.
© PolandDaily24.com
