Ambassador Victor Ashe

Greetings from Warsaw!

I hope you all had a wonderful July 4. To celebrate America’s Independence Day in Poland, we hosted the annual “July 4th” reception on July 2, with over 2,000 Polish, American, and other guests attending. Guests included leading figures in the Polish society, government officials, businessmen, members of the press, as well as cultural and educational institutions. On July 1, together with Consul General Anne Hall, we opened the “American Dream” exhibit in Kraków and held an Independence Day reception in that city. July 4 festivities were rounded out by the American Chamber of Commerce’s annual reception – and by Polish celebrations in cities around the country, notably in Warka – home of the U.S. Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pulaski.

Shortly before the July 4th weekend, several visitors came to Warsaw including Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who came to Poland on June 28-29 to meet with the Polish Chief of the General Staff, General Franciszek Gągor, Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich, and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. On June 29-30, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska was also in Poland to attend meetings with Minister Sikorski and to discuss missile defense, Poland’s contribution to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and the Visa Waiver Program. Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, was here on June 30 discussing women’s health issues.

On June 8, General John Craddock, NATO’s retiring Supreme Allied Commander Europe, received the Commander’s Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) during a ceremony at the President’s Chancellery in Warsaw. Created in 1974, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland is a Polish order awarded to those who have rendered great service to the Polish nation.

My home state of Tennessee was also well represented in Poland in June. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen came to Warsaw in mid-June on an economic development mission. Earlier in the month, fourteen members of the Nashville Committee on Foreign Relations, led by Chief Judge, George C. Paine II, visited Warsaw and met with Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski as well as Nashville Mayor Karl Dean visiting in early June.

June was also a month filled with cultural activities. Many distinguished American and Polish musicians performed for audiences in Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź, and other Polish cities. Jazz pianist Dan Tepfer returned to Poland to perform with Polish musicians Michał Barański and Łukasz Żyta and offer free workshops for pianists. Polish-American jazz legend Michał Urbaniak once again brought American jazz stars to Poland to perform during his annual Urbanator Days and Tomasz Stańko, the world-famous trumpeter, composer and Polish jazz ambassador, gave a special performance at Warsaw’s Hoover Square to promote two very special exhibitions we helped create: Jam Session and American Dream. Jam Session is on display at Hoover Square and consists of photos from the European tours of the old U.S. Government “Jazz Ambassadors” public diplomacy program.

In other cultural news, in mid-June, we opened a new exhibition: “U.S. in Polish Historiography and Periodicals from 1764-1919” at Warsaw’s Main Public Library and participated in the “OFF-jak gorąco” independent film festival at Kino Charlie in Łódź, where three American documentaries were screened. On June 23, I hosted a reception for the 11th edition of the U.S. Embassy-WPROST magazine essay contest for young journalists, where we presented the winners. E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, which has an active program of cooperation with Warsaw University, came to Warsaw in late June to meet with University officials, the Polish Academy of Science, and alumni.

In early June, I continued my public diplomacy visits by traveling to Częstochowa, a city in southern Poland famous for the Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra, home of the Black Madonna painting, and a shrine to the Holy Virgin Mary. Every year, millions of pilgrims from all over the world come to Częstochowa to see it. On June 23-24, I traveled to Sopot in northern Poland to participate in the Regional Operational Expert Group meeting of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) where discussion centered on best practices in preventing the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.

The Illinois National Guard continued its ongoing, robust cooperation with the Polish military with the June 16-24 visit by members of the 182nd Airlift Wing, Peoria, IL. The arrival of the 182nd marked the beginning of a week long diplomatic mission to help the Polish Air Force’s efforts to assist standing up the new C-130 mission. The Polish Air Force received its first C-130 E in March 2009 and is to receive four additional E models by the summer of 2010.

Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, was in Poland in late June and spoke at the conference “Women for Poland, Poland for Women: 20 years of transformation 1989-2009.” She also met with women leaders, activist groups, and government representatives to discuss the problem of violence against women in Poland. Ambassador Verveer was very impressed with the incredible changes that have taken place in Poland over the last 20 years. Her observations echoed Secretary Clinton’s message in which she praised Poland’s transformation and said, “Polish women have helped build that reality.”

It is also my great pleasure to announce that Łukasz Szozda, the talented Polish filmmaker I mentioned in the June issue of the Newsletter, won the grand prize among European entrants in the YouTube/U.S. Department of State “Democracy is…” video challenge. I want to congratulate Łukasz once again on his great achievement and encourage you to watch his video, which clearly struck the same chord with voters from around the world as it did with Polish voters and all of us at in the U.S. Mission to Poland.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions about the newsletter and hope to continue to receive your thoughts. Please don’t forget to check our homepage for the latest news, events, and updates. I will respond to all emails personally if you send me a message at: AsheVH@state.gov The U.S. Embassy website now features links to photo galleries and slide shows from many of our events, which I encourage you to visit.

Sincerely yours,

Victor Ashe

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