Iwo Byczewski (born 29 February 1948, in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

) is a Polish diplomat. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister (1991–1995),

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and Permanent Representative to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Life

He is a law graduate from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and studied at the College of Europe (1971–1972, Dante Alighieri promotion) in Bruges. He has a doctorate from the Institute of State and Law of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

in 1972. Between 1977 and 1982 he was working for the Ministry of Justice. He has been Solidarity member. As active dissident he was taking part in Polish Round Table Agreement negotiations. He joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 1990 when Poland became independent, serving as vice minister from 1991 to 1995. Then, he worked in business since the mid 90s. In 2001, he was appointed Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Ambassador to Belgium. From 2012 to 2016 Byczewski served as Ambassador to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He is married to Anna Nehrebecka.

Honours

* Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(1995) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2009)

References

1948 births Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni Ambassadors of Poland to Tunisia Ambassadors of Poland to Belgium College of Europe alumni International law scholars Living people Diplomats from Poznań Permanent representatives of Poland to the European Union {{Poland-diplomat-stub Polish legal scholars Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists