Mr. President, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank His Excellency, President Duda and the First Lady Ms. Kornhauser-Duda for your warm welcome.

The Crown Princess and I were in Poland in 2014. On that occasion, we got a vivid impression of Poland’s dynamic economic and social transformation. Just going from the airport this morning, it is obvious that Poland’s economic miracle is still unfolding, with new high-rise buildings constantly changing Warsaw’s skyline.

We are very pleased to be back in Poland to celebrate the centenary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Poland. If you look back at our relations over the last 100 years, there is every reason to celebrate.

We are neighbors. There are just 95 kilometers from the Danish island of Bornholm to Poland. However, during the Cold War contacts were difficult. We were on different sides of the Iron Curtain and we could have become military adversaries in an armed conflict.

In the seventies, political refugees from Poland found a safe haven in Denmark. In the eighties, Danes were following Poland’s heroic struggle for freedom, and every Dane is aware that the wave of freedom and liberty that ended Europe’s division 30 years ago, started right here in Poland.

Now we are friends and NATO-allies. Danish troops are stationed in Poland and Danish and Polish troops have been deployed in the same international missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 2004, we have been EU-partners. Poland’s EU-accession was decided in Copenhagen in 2002 with strong Danish support. This has lead to a boom in trade and investments across the Baltic Sea.

Poland is now Denmark’s 9th biggest export market and we estimate that about 500 Danish companies with 50.000 employees are present in Poland today.

Danish farmers have been part of the transformation of Polish agriculture from the very outset. Danish farmers and food producers are now an integral part of their local communities and they take pride in being part of Poland’s dynamic economic development.

Energy and climate are areas of special importance in the Polish Danish relationship. Soon, we will be physically connected by the Baltic Pipe. However, our energy partnership is evolving rapidly beyond gas-transmission. Danish and Polish companies are now joining hands to develop off shore wind in the Baltic Sea. It is a win-win – not only for Poland and Denmark, but for the global climate as well.

However, Danish-Polish relations are not only about official contacts and about doing business. It is also about people. People-to-people contacts across the Baltic Sea are strong and vibrant. There is a proud and hard-working Polish community in Denmark, stemming from different waves of immigration.

There are also numerous contacts between Danish and Polish civil society focusing on common challenges we are facing.

Today, the Cities Changing Diabetes program will be launched in Poland. And Danish and Polish civil society representatives and experts will share their experiences on how to include persons with disabilities further in social life and on the labor market.

Cultural links are also rich and varied. Right outside this building, in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace, Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen’s statue of Prince Poniatowski symbolizes Poland’s long and epic struggle for freedom and independence. 

The narrative of our relations is a happy one, and the potential for more cooperation and contacts is immense.

So, let’s do what we can today to stimulate relations further, so that 100 years from now, at the next round anniversary, people will say: 2019 marked the start of another era in our relations across the Baltic Sea. Let me propose a toast for Polish-Danish friendship.