Ambassador in Kraków
Robin Barnett, British Ambassador to Poland, visited Kraków on 23-24 July.
The highlight of the visit was a meeting with the participants of “Roots and Treetops” – a new educational project for Belarusian youth, launched by Goethe Institute in Minsk, British Council Poland and the French Alliance in Moldova. Thanks to the programme, young people from Belarus are able to take part in free courses of English, German and French as well as get acquainted with the structure of the European Union and its institutions. Ambassador Barnett enjoyed the meeting and answered many questions regarding Polish-British relations, the UK in the EU, his own experience of Poland’s transformation and the UK policy towards supporting democracy in Belarus.
The visit was part of the Embassy’s active programme to expand political and commercial contacts with Poland’s sixteen regions. To that end, the ambassador discussed British trade and investment engagement in Kraków and the wider Małopolska with Kraków officials and a number of British companies that have already enjoyed a prosperous presence in that region. Ambassador Barnett also raised the wider economic, social and political situation in Małopolska with local authorities – Voivode Jerzy Miller, Marshall Marek Sowa and Kraków’s Mayor Jacek Majchrowski.
On a lighter note, the ambassador’s visit in Kraków coincided with the GREAT Minis’ trip to the Formula One Grand Prix at Hungaroring. En route to Hungary, the Minis drove through Kraków and were met by the local authorities and the ambassador. He enthused about the Minis as a GREAT means of promoting Britain - the home of innovation and the best place to look for business partners.
A video and more pictures from the visit can be found here: British Embassy Warsaw on Facebook