RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a Saudi-Polish Coordination Council.
The aim of the council is to strengthen bilateral cooperation and political coordination, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The agreement was signed during talks between the ministers in Warsaw, at which they also affirmed the importance of supporting stability in Palestine, Yemen and Sudan. Sikorski condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and said Poland supported international efforts, led by Saudi Arabia, to promote stability in Palestine, TV news channel Al Arabiya reported.
The newly established coordination council will be chaired by the two foreign ministers, and the participants will include other senior officials, sources said, reflecting the commitment of the leaderships of both countries to the expansion of cooperation in various sectors.
The ministers also officially announced that holders of diplomatic, service and other special passports in each country will be exempt from visa requirements for visiting the other nation.
Robert Rostek, the Polish ambassador to the Kingdom, told Arab News: “The visa exemption, this is mostly, or let’s say purely, an agreement between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries.”
He added: “But the coordination council is completely different and it is beautiful in terms of cooperation between the two countries.
“Saudi Arabia is ready to take cooperation with Poland to a different level. They decided to sign this agreement to establish the coordination council in order to create more possibilities for the business sector in both countries.”
Plans for the visa exemptions had been underway for some time, Rostek said.
“We decided (in 2024), with approval from both sides, to inaugurate and open direct flights between Saudi Arabia and Poland by Polish Airlines,” he added.
“It was, you know, a symbolic step and also we decided to open a bridge to connect the two countries. This is why this agreement is very important, because it provides visa exemptions for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports.
“To be honest, it will be almost with immediate effect because (in about) 10 days we are expecting a very important visit of our minister of finance and economy, Andrzej Domanski, who is going to meet with the minister of investment, minister of trade, and minister of economy and planning in Riyadh.
“He will be arriving in Riyadh with almost 100 people from the business team, some of whom will use diplomatic and special passports. So we can say that almost immediately we can see some pragmatic effect” of the exemptions.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Polish President Karol Nawrocki. (SPA)
The visit by the Polish delegation to the Kingdom is scheduled to take place from Feb. 7 to 9.
“As you know, the role of an ambassador is to bring the two countries as close as possible in different areas,” Rostek said of his own role in the relationship between the two countries.
“Of course, like Saudi Arabia, we are very eager to have business cooperation, which is the engine for bilateral relations.”
Later on Monday, Prince Faisal held talks with Polish President Karol Nawrocki. During their meeting they reviewed relations between their countries and discussed the latest regional and international developments.
Rostek said of the meeting that “there was an absolutely brilliant atmosphere and an excellent exchange of views between the minister and our president.”
The visit is the first by Prince Faisal to Poland for five years, the ambassador added, “and now we are expecting an official visit of our president to Saudi Arabia in autumn this year. So we can say that the dynamic between two countries is really so active and so important for both sides.”
