To promote Poland

Polish Presidency offers extensive cultural program

With more than 1400 artistic events to be organized, the cultural program of the Polish Presidency has been one of the most ambitious projects to promote Poland since 1989. Projects prepared by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in cooperation with Polish and foreign partners, will be presented in the most important galleries, theatres and clubs, and at the most important festivals in Brussels, Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Beijing and Tokyo.

The events will take place in such famous places as Bozar and La Monnaie in Brussels, the National Theatre and the Southbank Centre in London, Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin, and Teatro Real in Madrid. The National Audiovisual Institute will oversee the implementation of the cultural program in Poland. The main Polish cities where cultural events will be held include: Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Cracow, Sopot, Lublin, Białystok, and Katowice.
Diplomatic posts and Polish Institutes will be especially active during the period of the Presidency as they will be responsible for the co-organization of more than 2500 events. The events are supposed to present Polish social and economic thought, history, literature, film, music, theatre, and visual arts to an international audience. More information about the cultural program can be found at: www.culture.pl

In about a month a meeting of high-level ambassadorial representatives of the member states regarding common foreign policy, security and crisis management will take place in Bruksela. This meeting will be followed by the EU Youth Conference from 5th-7th September in Warszawa. The EU Youth Conference is organized as part of systematic dialogue between young people and decision makers at European and national level. During the conference the results of Europe-wide consultation will be discussed and recommendations will be developed concerning the implementation of youth policy. The main theme - both of the consultation and the entire conference - will be youth participation. You can also follow the event on facebook.

Besides a comprehensive cultural program the Polish Presidency will aim to put the European Union on the path to faster development and will focus on three priorities: I. European Integration as a Source of Growth, II. Secure Europe, III. Europe Benefitting from Openness.

In October 2009, the European Council asked the European Commission to present in 2011 a progress report on the EU’s first macro-regional strategy – the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The review will take place during the Polish Presidency. The basis for the Council conclusions on the EUSBSR review will be the European Commission’s progress report adopted in June 2011. The 2nd Annual Forum of the Stakeholders of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, scheduled to take place in Gdansk on 24-26 October 2011, will promote this idea and will be linked with the Baltic Development Forum.

By the way: The presidency’s logo design triggers associations with positive energy, and it is dynamic, looking towards the future. Its symbolism focuses around the idea of community, cohesion of activity and solidarity. The joined arrows constitute a synonym for development and growth, whereas the colors used in the logo are derived from the flags of the EU Member States.