Witold Jan Waszczykowski (; born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician. He was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

between 2015 and 2018. Waszczykowski was a Member of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

(2011–2019), and has been the Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

since 2019.

Life and career

Waszczykowski was born in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the second-largest city situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Previously, it was the capita ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 5 May 1957. He is a graduate of the

University of Łódź The University of Łódź ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Łódzki'', Latin: ''Universitas Lodziensis'') is a public research university founded in 1945 in Łódź, Poland, as a continuation of three higher education institutions functioning in Łódź i ...

, earning a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

, where he received a master's degree in

international studies International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

. Waszczykowski completed advanced studies at the

Geneva Centre for Security Policy The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation that was established in 1995 under Swiss law to "promote the building and maintenance of peace, security and stability". The GCSP was founded by the Federal Department o ...

. He also holds a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in history from the University of Łódź. He joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

in 1992. Between 1997 and 1999 he was working at the Permanent Representation of Poland to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as deputy chief of mission. From 1999 to 2002, Waszczykowski was the Ambassador of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. On 4 November 2005, he became

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a Cabinet (government), cabinet Minister (government), minister in charge of a sovereign state, state's foreign policy and foreign ...

. Waszczykowski served as the chief negotiator with the United States on

missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

. He served until 11 August 2008. From 27 August 2008 to 6 July 2010, Waszczykowski was the Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau. In the 2011 parliamentary elections, he successfully ran for the

. He was reelected in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. Since 16 November 2015, Waszczykowski has been the

in the

Cabinet of Beata Szydło Cabinet of Beata Szydło formed the 17th government of Poland, until 11 December 2017. Governing during the 8th legislature of the Sejm and the 9th legislature of the Senate, it was led by Beata Szydło Beata Maria Szydło (, née Kusińsk ...

. On 10 January 2017, he accidentally referred to the country of

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

as "

San Escobar San Escobar is a non-existent country originated from a blunder of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski. On 10 January 2017, Waszczykowski told reporters that, in a bid for a non-permanent seat for Poland on the UN Secu ...

" (the mistake reportedly stems from the islands' Spanish name, San Cristóbal y Nieves). This was immediately picked up by newspapers throughout the world, such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', ''The New York Times'', and ''Britské listy''. In 2019, he was elected member to the

, receiving 168 021 votes. Waszczykowski has been also cooperating with the Sobieski Institute.

Positions held

*Ambassador to

(1999 – 2002) *

(4 November 2005 – 11 August 2008) *Deputy Head of the National Security Bureau (27 August 2008 – 6 July 2010) *Member of the

(9 October 2011 – 2019) *

(November 2015 – January 2018) *Member of the European Parliament (2019 – present)

References

External links

Sejm profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waszczykowski, Witold 1957 births Living people Ambassadors of Poland to Iran Law and Justice politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2011–2015 Members of the Polish Sejm 2015–2019 MEPs for Poland 2019–2024 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland People from Piotrków Trybunalski University of Łódź alumni University of Oregon alumni

Life and career

Positions held

See also

References

External links