Political relations

The state and prospects of Polish-Japanese relations are excellent. Poland and Japan share a bilateral strategic partnership, common political and economic interests, common values and principles, and a similar vision of the world order. In the light of new challenges on the international arena, the importance of Polish-Japanese relations will grow.
After 1989, when Poland became a democratic state, cooperation between Poland and Japan increased significantly. In July 2002, a historic visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to Poland took place, aimed at strengthening friendship and expanding cooperation between Poland and Japan. A year later, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid an official visit to Poland, during which a joint declaration “Towards a strategic partnership between Poland and Japan” was signed. Both events have become a catalyst for an intensively developing exchange of visits of representatives of both countries and bilateral economic cooperation.
Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004 resulted in increased interest in the growing political importance of Poland by Japan. In 2005, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Marek Belka visited Japan, and Poland participated in the World Exhibition EXPO 2005 in Aichi. In 2007, the 50th anniversary of the renewal of diplomatic relations between Poland and Japan (1957) was celebrated, which resulted in the organization of numerous events related to its celebrations in both countries. President Lech Kaczyński's visit to Japan in 2008 was another milestone in bilateral relations.
During the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Poland in 2013, a historic meeting of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group with the head of the Japanese government took place. Japan became the first non-European country with which the Visegrad Group established cooperation. In 2015, the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski visited Japan, and the level of bilateral relations was raised to the rank of the so-called. the Strategic Partnership. Its principles are described in the Joint Statement “Building Framework for Strategic Partnership for Freedom, Growth and Solidarity”. It covers the areas of political cooperation, security, economy, science and technology, and cultural cooperation.
During the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Witold Waszczykowski, to Japan in 2017, an "Action Plan for the implementation of the strategic partnership between the governments of Poland and Japan for 2017-2020" was signed, which is the basis for further joint activities of the Polish and Japanese administrations. In 2019, Poland and Japan celebrated the centenary of establishing diplomatic relations (1919). On the occasion of the jubilee at the turn of June and July, Prince Akishino visited Poland, together with his wife Princess Kiko. It was the first foreign visit of the Crown Prince of Japan. Numerous cultural events have been organised in both countries to commemorate the momentous centenary of friendship. In 2020, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki paid an official visit to Japan.
In addition to intergovernmental dialogue, Poland and Japan conduct political dialogue at interparliamentary level. There are bilateral friendship groups in both chambers of the Polish and Japanese parliaments. In 2020, a delegation of the Senate of the Republic of Poland led by the Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Professor Tomasz Grodzki, paid a visit to Japan. In 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, hosted in Poland, who signed another action plan under the Poland-Japan strategic partnership for 2021-2025. This framework document describing the political, economic, defence, scientific and cultural areas of the Polish-Japanese partnership sets out the main directions of bilateral cooperation for the next five years.
In July 2021, the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, during a visit to Japan, was received in an audience by His Majesty Emperor Naruhito, and also took part in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. In 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Poland for the first time in 10 years as Prime Minister of Japan, expressing appreciation for the role that Poland plays on the front line as a military and humanitarian base for Ukraine. In connection with Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Japan has decided to treat Poland as a recipient of development aid intended for Ukraine.

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The Polish-Japanese Foundation (FPJ) works for cooperation and development of mutual relations between entities and residents from both countries.

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