PH’s Marcos thanks Poland for giving importance to Indo-Pacific

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with visiting Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Malacanang on Wednesday afternoon. | PHOTO: PPA Pool via Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday thanked Poland for giving importance to the Indo-Pacific amid the geopolitical situation in the region.

Marcos expressed his gratitude during the courtesy call of Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Malacañang.

“I can just imagine some of the challenges that Poland is having to deal with in terms of the geopolitical situation and so the importance that you have given to the Indo-Pacific is a significant symbol, a message as well to the rest of the world on how we stand together, so we thank you very much for that,” Marcos told Sikorski.

According to the Presidential Communications Office, Poland has been supplying the Philippines with Black Hawk helicopters and served as the country’s 9th top trading partner among the European Union countries in 2023. Poland also serves as a second home to almost 3,000 Filipinos.

Sikorski also thanked Marcos “for the time and honor” and congratulated him for “very successful diplomacy” and security efforts.

“We are very impressed by a number of defense cooperation agreements with the Philippines, and I’m very pleased with the conversations that we have to prioritize,” Sikorski said.

Sikorski’s visit marks the first stand-alone visit to the Philippines of a Polish foreign minister, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Poland, which was formally established on Sept. 22, 1973.

Sikorski last visited the Philippines in 2006 when he was a defense minister.

READ: Poland’s Foreign Affairs minister set to visit PH