Ambassador
Victor Ashe

Greetings from Warsaw!

Summer is in full swing, and we are very busy in the Embassy in Warsaw. The summer months are always a mix of emotions as we say goodbye to many people leaving the Embassy and welcome the new families arriving for their tour in Poland.

One of the highlights of June came early, when I presented to poet Adam Zagajewski the U.S. Embassy’s second annual Czesław Miłosz Award for Contributions to U.S-Polish Understanding. The award honors an individual dedicated to promoting improved communication, closer cooperation, and greater understanding between the peoples of the United States and Poland. Mr. Zagajewski’s poetry creates artistic links between the United States and Poland. He lives in Krakow.

We opened new office space for the Federal Benefits unit in the Embassy, which has six full-time staff serving Social Security and other federal benefits recipients in Poland and surrounding countries. This office will increasingly play an important role in Poland as we move toward finalization of the Totalization Agreement between the United States and Poland that will allow people who have worked in both countries to combine their total years of work in the final determination of their social security benefits.

Also in June, veteran diplomat Robert Kupiecki formally presented his credentials as Poland's Ambassador to the United States to President Bush. I look forward to working with Ambassador Kupiecki.

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao also visited Poland. Secretary Chao met with Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak and with members of the American Chamber of Commerce to discuss the U.S. economy. She spoke at the Warsaw School of Economics to U.S. and Polish business and labor representatives.

We had two law enforcement cooperation events during the month. First, we were very pleased to announce that as a result of cooperation between our FBI office and the Polish anti-corruption office (ABW), nearly $16.5 million was remitted to a court-appointed receiver in Poland to be distributed to the victims of a scheme that defrauded Polish investors, which marks the first time the United States Government has returned fraud proceeds to victims in Poland. We are working on the actual delivery of funds which have been met by bureaucratic delays in both Poland and the United States.

Later in the month, we donated nine bicycles each to both the Warsaw Metropolitan Police and the Krakow Metropolitan Police to further their community policing efforts. The bikes will be used to connect more closely with communities where the police have patrolled in vehicles.

Spring is when we honor our departing American and Polish Fulbright scholars, teachers and students at an official lunch. This year all of the grantees received award certificates. The Fulbright Program is celebrating its 50th year in Poland next year. We also opened a new Young Learners Resource Center in Bialystok, and welcomed a group of District of Columbia students who were in Poland performing a play about Poland. And for students of all ages the Embassy sponsored Professor Bob Friedhoffer from the City University of New York to perform at the Science Picnic in Warsaw, where he put on his renowned “Scientific Magic Show” which gives audience members a chance to learn how science works through laboratory demonstrations and experiments presented as magic tricks.

We finished the month with celebrations of American Independence Day in Lodz and Krakow, as well as our traditional July 4th party in Warsaw. While in Krakow, I visited Babia Gora National Park in the Beskidy Mountains, which boasts beautiful views of both Poland and Slovakia. I recommend that anyone considering a visit to Poland put this Park on their itinerary.

I always enjoy reading your emails and notes about the newsletter, and hope to continue to receive your thoughts. I always respond personally to all email when I receive it. You may email me at AsheVH@state.gov.

Sincerely Yours,

Victor Ashe

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