On June 25, 2019, the third session of the Strategy Duologues on Geopolitics meeting series took place. Representatives of The Warsaw Institute Review team Alexander Wielgos and Łukasz Biernacki together with the President of the Warsaw Institute foundation, Krzysztof Kamiński, were at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Warsaw to candidly discuss bilateral relations between the states and relevant geopolitical dynamics, both on the regional and global levels, as well as conduct an expert lecture on the Eastern Balkans and the Three Seas’ Initiative.
Participants of the meeting
The meeting was attended by moderator of the Strategy Duologues and Advisor of The Warsaw Institute Review Alexander Wielgos, Communications Specialist Łukasz Biernacki as well as President of the Warsaw Institute foundation and expert Krzysztof Kamiński. From the side of the Embassy, seven representatives participated in the discussion – Her Excellency the Ambassador Ms. Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, First Consul Mr. Basana Sidabutar, Consul Mr. Taufiq Lamsuhur, First Secretary Mrs. Diyah Ramadani Agustini, Second Secretary Mr. George Lekahena, Third Secretary Mrs. Widya Rahma Utami and Embassy staff Mr. Dawid Martin.
Opening remarks
In the introductory stages of the discussion between representatives of The Warsaw Institute Review, the Warsaw Institute and the Indonesian Embassy, Her Excellency the Ambassador Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, welcomed the meeting series’ concept. During her opening remarks, the Ambassador noted that in 2020 Poland and Indonesia will celebrate the 65th anniversary of exceptionally good diplomatic relations.
In her speech, she emphasized the mutual support of the two states on the international arena – particularly as both countries are incumbent Non-Permanent Members of the UN Security Council which supported each other’s candidacies not only on this but also in various other matters. Furthermore, Poland and Indonesia have gradually yet decidedly improved their economic cooperation, which increased by 23% last year.
The Ambassador also highlighted the characteristics of Indonesian democracy, namely an incredibly well-developed and accurate system of conducting elections on the several hundred inhabited islands; the largest scale of such a feat in the world.
Expert input
In a following stage of the Duologue, an in-depth, expert lecture was presented by the president of the Warsaw Institute foundation, Krzysztof Kamiński. This included extensive and in-depth explanations regarding infrastructure, energy and geopolitical aspects in Central Eastern Europe. In particular, the emphasis has been on examining the dependencies within the European Union and other complementary regional formats. The lecture went over the most important differences resulting from the currently presented concepts of European integration, which can be briefly described as “enlargement” or “deepening” of Community integration.
Next, the most important fundaments of the Three Seas’ Initiative were elaborated (consisting of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary) and the region’s investment needs in the field of energy, physical and digital infrastructure, which are estimated at around 570 billion Euros. The recently announced pillars of the Three Seas’ Initiative Fund, which was initiated by Poland and Romania, and its value in the coming years are to increase to the level of 3-5 billion Euros.
During the meeting, Eastern Partnership was also mentioned, which was initiated by Poland and Sweden. This year is 10 years from the first summit of this initiative, aimed at bringing Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan closer to the EU. Finally, the concluding topic pertained to the Berlin Process, which serves as a platform facilitating the integration of the Western Balkan countries with the European Union. Currently, Poland holds the presidency in this initiative, and the upcoming summit will take place in July 2019 in Poznań. The meeting was an opportunity to present the program of the Polish presidency in the Berlin Process and the very summit in Poznań.
Duologue outcomes
The Ambassador and accompanying diplomats highlighted the importance of this lecture and necessity of more like it, conveying explicitly that such meetings are crucial for building good relations between states. Furthermore, considering complex trilateral relationships with key geopolitical actors – inter alia, the larger roles of China, Russia, and USA – the discussion examined similarities and differences between the regional cooperation incentives, namely ASEAN formats and EU and NATO related formats, and with this, an exchange of experience and lessons learnt. After the expert’s presentation, both sides discussed the current international relations of the states, a vision of the future of both countries and mutual plans for the near future. The Think tank, editorial office of the quarterly and representatives of the Embassy have also initiated another meeting with a new lecture by the expert The Warsaw Institute Review.
Moderated by Alexander Wielgos, the Strategy Duologue had particular importance for the Ambassador herself, for whom it was the first meeting with a Polish think tank and one of the first meetings with any Polish institutions relevant to the field of geopolitics and diplomacy. Moreover, the Ambassador spoke with The Warsaw Institute Review in her native language, as Advisor Alexander Wielgos grew up in Indonesia and thus also speaks some Bahasa Indonesia.
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