Poland recognises ‘unique position of Ireland’ on Brexit

Poland recognises the “unique position of Ireland” on Brexit because of the North, and expects the special position will be recognised in the negotiation process, the Polish foreign minister said in Dublin yesterday.

However, Witold Waszczykowski said that Poland also had special considerations related to Brexit, and that the "particular problems and sensitivities of all our countries" must be accepted as part of the Brexit negotiations.

"We have a special issue with the UK because we have hundreds of thousands of Poles living there, so especially for us freedom of movement of people is very much important, and we hope this is included and will be part of the instruction of the European Union negotiators negotiating exit with the United Kingdom, " Mr Waszczykowski said.

"But we absolutely understand the unique situation of Ireland, which is very close to the United Kingdom."

Mr Flanagan said he was happy there was appreciation amongst European governments of the special circumstances of the North and of Ireland in advance of the negotiations, but it was pointless to speculate about a "hard" or "soft" Brexit before the negotiations began.

Both men were keen to stress the warm relations between the two countries after the meeting in Iveagh House.

Irish society

“These ties have grown hugely in recent years,” Mr Flanagan said. “With up to 150,000 Polish people now living in Ireland, the Polish community is an extremely valued and integral part of Irish society. More than 60 flights a week link Ireland and Poland, and bilateral trade between our two countries is steadily growing. Last year our bilateral trade amounted to €2.9 billion.”

Mr Waszczykowski said while the EU was losing the UK as a member, it would still be a part of Europe "and especially part of Nato".

He said a large part of his discussion with Mr Flanagan revolved around security issues in Europe.

“Ireland is a lucky country which is located very far away from the conflict areas, but in this globalised world of course there is no country which is totally immune from its problems and crises.”

He spoke to Mr Flanagan about the situation in eastern Europe and about the Nato summit in Warsaw last summer.

There have been fears in central and eastern European countries prompted by the comments by US president-elect Donald Trump during the election campaign in which he suggested that the US might resile from its commitment to Nato.

Russian expansionism

Fears of Russian expansionism have risen following the Russian annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Polish minister briefed Mr Flanagan on the situation in Ukraine, a neighbour of Poland, at the meeting yesterday.

Mr Waszczykowski said he was optimistic that Mr Trump would revert to the traditional positions of the US Republican party, and would continue to support Nato.

Mr Flanagan said the Irish Government were looking forward to "continued engagement" with the incoming US administration "as president-elect Trump brings his team together".

He also revealed that he has spoken to the speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan on the telephone this week, when the two men discussed Irish-US relations and future contacts with the incoming Trump administration in Washington.

Mr Flanagan is scheduled to visit Washington for meetings with US government representatives in January.