Ambassador Murkocinski’s remarks came during the Iftar that the Polish embassy in Cairo hosted on the occasion of the Polish Presidency of the Council of European Union.
Murkocinski said that “partnership” assumes confidence and readiness to work together and cooperate. EU perceives Egypt as the cornerstone of stability in the region and an indispensable partner in the Southern Neighbourhood.
He added that this perspective is fully shared in Warsaw, and it was backed up by the planned visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski to Egypt during our presidency.
“Poland and Egypt are situated in challenging neighbourhood. It requires paying special attention to international security and global dynamics. Based on this, I am convinced we can build fruitful and stable contacts on many levels. At this point, I would also like to thank EU Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst for all her efforts to bring Egypt and the EU closer together,” said Murkocinski.
On 1 January, Poland assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of European Union for the first half of 2025.
“The presidency is an excellent opportunity for every EU capital to leave its imprint on the current work of the union. It is an opportunity to be more attentive to issues that we consider of primary importance for the union as a whole,” he noted.
“Poland takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union at a time of uncertainty and concern while Europe is grappling with the consequences of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and the need to strengthen its defence capacity,” Murkocinski added.
“We are witnessing increasing geopolitical tensions and erosion of the rules-based international order. War on Gaza, as well as other, numerous conflicts in the Middle East, make the world less and less secure. The international landscape is shifting as quickly and as profoundly as never before,” the Polish ambassador noted.
“For countries that are not global powers but have enough potential to actively shape their regions (like in the case of Poland and Egypt), it’s particularly challenging. We feel it in Warsaw, in Brussels, and also in Cairo,” he added.
“Security, Europe! – that’s the motto of our presidency. When reflecting internally on the presidency priorities in 2024, we felt we were about to enter a zone of turbulence. Unfortunately, we were right,” Murkocinski said.
What matters most for the Polish presidency?
Murkocinski highlighted the Polish presidency's first and foremost focus on supporting activities that strengthen European security in its seven dimensions.
First: Defense and security. “We need concerted and ambitious action on European defence, complementing NATO’s efforts. The Polish presidency prioritizes strengthening cooperation with NATO and like-minded non-EU countries, including the UK, Japan, South Korea, and others,” Murkocinski said.
Second: Protection of people and borders. “Together, we will seek new solutions to comprehensively address the migration and security challenges at the EU’s external borders and work to reduce irregular migration. We will work towards an adequate EU response to hybrid threats, in particular the instrumentalization of migration – which my country was a victim of quite recently,” he noted.
Third: Resistance to foreign interference and disinformation. The Polish presidency will strive to strengthen coordination in the fight against disinformation and information manipulation and to improve the EU's ability to prevent and mitigate the effects of hostile actions in cyberspace.
Fourth: Ensuring security and freedom of business. The Polish presidency aims to contribute to solving challenges related to rapid technological change, energy, and climate transition. Deepening the single market and removing barriers to cross-border activity, especially in the services sector, is necessary.
Fifth: Energy security. Poland stresses that the reliability and certainty of the supply of energy resources are crucial for the EU's energy security.
Sixth: Food security. “Europe must strengthen farmers' positions in value chains and stabilize their incomes. We need a competitive and resilient European agriculture that provides food security for Europeans.”
Seventh: Health security. The Polish presidency will focus on the digital transformation of healthcare. Diversification of medicines supply chains and support for their production in the EU play a key role.
“All this sets the direction in which we would like the EU to develop — here in Egypt,” Murkocinski noted.
Murkocinski highlighted that Poland joined the EU 21 years ago. “For us, it was a great comeback to Europe, from which we were separated by the cruel fate of history. Today, we are one of European leaders. Our GDP grew in 2024 by 2.9 percent and is expected to grow further in 2025 by 3.4 percent. We are ready to contribute to safe and prosperous Europe and Southern Neighbourhood,” he concluded.
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