On 16 May, the oldest Polish university was visited by the US Ambassador to Poland Marek Brzezinski. His official visit in Collegium Novum was accompanied by a lecture entitled United States and Poland – Today and Tomorrow followed by a Q&A session with students.
The meeting was opened by JU Rector prof. Jacek Popiel, who stressed the importance of Mark Brzezinski’s visit and the crucial role of cooperation and knowledge transfer in addressing the challenges of the modern world. ‘This event is all the more exciting for us because in the year 2000, in this very room, the Jagiellonian University honorary doctorate was conferred upon His Excellency’s father, Zbigniew Brzeziński, who was involved in maintaining peace in Central Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s, was instrumental in the Polish struggle for independence from other states, advocated for Polish accession to NATO, and was a friend to Polish researchers around the world, constantly reaffirming his Polish heritage’, said prof. Jacek Popiel.
In his speech, Mark Brzezinski focused primarily on the issues related to the crisis caused by the Russians aggression against Ukraine. He stressed that the readiness of Poles to selflessly help their neighbours translates to an extremely positive image of Poles in the eyes of Americans. This heroic attitude, combined with exceptional diligence and loyalty of the Polish people, bodes well for the development of not only Polish-American relations, but also European integration and cooperation within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. According to Mark Brzezinski, the alliance between the US and Poland has never been stronger, and the commitment to common values, such as freedom and equality, can only serve to make it even more strong. Close cooperation and stengthening ties bewteen partners are necessary to build economic prosperity in the future, to promote a culture of mutual respect and tolerance, and to ensure security and stability in the region.
Mark Brzezinski was sworn in as the Ambassador of the United States to Poland on December 22, 2021. He previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015. In 2015, he was asked by the White House to lead a strategic effort on the Arctic as the first Executive Director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee. From 1999 to 2001, he served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff, first as a Director for Russia and Eurasia, and then as a Director for the Balkans.
Ambassador Brzezinski is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 1991–1993, during which he researched and wrote a book entitled The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland. In 2010, he was named to the State Department’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. He received a BA from Dartmouth College, a JD from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in Political Science from Oxford University.
