Radosław Sikorski goes to Southeast Asia. Visits to Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines

The Minister will visit on September 2-5 SingaporeMalaysia and on Philippines. The ministers accompanying him will strive to strengthen bilateral relations in the areas of agriculture and armaments.

Sikorski will meet with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin, as well as Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. He will also hold talks with Philippine Air Force Commander Stephen P. Parreno.

The meetings of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Defence Paweł Zalewski and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michał Kołodziejczak with the highest authorities of the visited countries are part of a broader agenda of strengthening bilateral relations, in particular in the areas of security and economy.

Minister Sikorski is to present Poland's view on conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region and will emphasize the need to resolve disputes without the use of force, the Polish Press Agency has learned from sources close to diplomacy.

The head of Polish diplomacy is also expected to emphasize the importance of stabilizing the situation in the context of maritime transport. A potential armed conflict in the South China Sea, which is a trade route worth over $3 billion annually, could affect the global supply chain.

The government in Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire sea, including areas claimed by, among others, Taiwan, IndonesiaMalaysia, which is a source of regional tensions, especially in relations with the Philippines. The PRC authorities also do not recognize the decision of the International Court of Arbitration, which ruled that their claims have no basis in international law.

The Minister is to emphasize that a precedent cannot be set in which the results of arbitration, treaties and international law would have to yield to economic and military force.

Escalating Tensions and Potential Engagement USA could also translate into less support for Ukraineand this in turn affects security in the Euro-Atlantic region, the sources said, adding that Ukraine will traditionally be one of the topics of the minister's talks.

As it was emphasized, the visit is of great economic importance also due to the growing role India and Southeast Asian countries balancing the influence ChinThrough political contacts at the highest level, Poland wants to send a positive signal, assuring local businesses that we are a friendly and safe country for developing cooperation.

Deputy Minister Kołodziejczak is to hold political talks aimed at opening access to Asian markets for Polish agricultural products. These are crucial due to the occurrence of diseases such as ASF or mad cow disease in our region, which threaten the stability of trade. Last year, the Philippine authorities recognized the Polish regionalization system at the provincial level in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which was a significant event for Polish trade.

Deputy Minister Zalewski will not be accompanied by representatives of the military industry and manufacturers due to the trade fairs in Kielce taking place at the same time, but his presence is important due to the Philippines' current arms purchases and maintaining defense contacts. In recent years, both Polish Sokół helicopters and American Black Hawks manufactured on the Vistula have arrived in this country.