Latvia–Poland relations
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Latvia–Poland relations are foreign relations between
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and Poland. Both countries enjoy good relations and are close allies. There are around 57,000
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
living in Latvia. Both countries are full members of the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE, Bucharest Nine, Three Seas Initiative,
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, Council of the Baltic Sea States and HELCOM.


History

Present-day Latvia was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in its entirety until 1621, and then partially until the
Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. It endured several Swedish invasions during the Polish–Swedish wars of 1600–1611, 1617–1618, 1621–1625, 1626–1629, 1655–1660 and 1700–1721. The Battle of Kircholm at modern Salaspils, Latvia, in which the Poles defeated the more numerous invading Swedes in 1605, is considered one of the greatest victories in Polish military history. It is commemorated in Salaspils. In the 19th century, both
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
and Latvians were subjected to
Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
policies within the Russian Empire.


20th century

After World War I, both Latvia and Poland regained independence, and the nations became allies against the invading Soviet Russians. In January 1920 a joint Polish and Latvian force defeated the Red Army in the
Battle of Daugavpils The Battle of Daugavpils, or Battle of Dyneburg, was the final battle during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919. A joint Polish and Latvian force, operating under Polish Staff orders known as "Operation Winter", attacked the Red Army garrison in D ...
. In 1920, over 2,500 Polish soldiers of the former Polish Legion in Finland were evacuated from Finland via Liepaja to Poland. The Polish victory in the Battle of Warsaw in August 1920, secured both Polish and Latvian independence. Both countries shared a common border in the interbellum. In 1922, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland were the signatories of the
Warsaw Accord The Warsaw Accord was signed on 17 March 1922 by Finland, Poland, Estonia and Latvia, but failure by the Parliament of Finland to ratify it made it never enter into force. Accord summary The states agreed not to enter any other treaties to disad ...
, which however did not enter into force, as Finland did not ratify it under pressure of Germany, which was hostile to Poland. Instead, in 1925, Poland, Latvia, Finland and Estonia signed a convention on
conciliation Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering te ...
and
arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
in Helsinki. In 1937–1938, both ethnic Poles and Latvians in the Soviet Union were subjected to
genocidal Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
campaigns carried out by the NKVD, known as the '' Polish Operation'' and the '' Latvian Operation'' respectively. Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Poland and Latvia were both to be occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. During the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War II in September 1939, there were some 29,000 Polish citizens in Latvia, and soon 2,000 Polish refugees arrived to Latvia.
Aleksandra Piłsudska Aleksandra Piłsudska ( Szczerbińska; 12 December 1882 – 31 March 1963) was a Polish socialist and independence activist, member of Polish Socialist Party and Polish Military Organisation, the second wife of Józef Piłsudski. Life and caree ...
, widow of pre-war Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, with daughters Wanda and
Jadwiga Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "figh ...
fled through Latvia to
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Poland was
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
by Germany and the Soviet Union since 1939, while Latvia was
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
solely by the Soviet Union since June 1940. Both nations were under common oppression, and many Poles and Latvians were forcefully deported by the Russians to Siberia. In the course of Operation Barbarossa, from mid-1941, both countries were entirely occupied by Germany. Latvian conscripts from the Soviet Red Army alike Polish POWs and civilians were among the prisoners of the Stalag II-B German prisoner-of-war camp in Czarne. In 1942, Polish Prime Minister-in-Exile Władysław Sikorski's intervention to British and American authorities thwarted Soviet attempts to obtain Allied approval for the planned annexation of Latvia and eastern Poland. In 1944–1945, both countries were again occupied by Soviet forces. Soviet repressions and deportations of both Latvian and Polish citizens continued. Poland's formal independence was eventually restored, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, while Latvia was annexed into the Soviet Union, thus both had no relationship until the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. After the fall of the USSR, both countries re-established diplomatic relations on August 30, 1991.


Modern relations

April 12, 2010, was declared a day of national mourning in Latvia to commemorate the 96 victims of the Smolensk air disaster, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife
Maria Kaczyńska Maria Helena Kaczyńska (; ; 21 August 1942 – 10 April 2010) was the First Lady of Poland from 2005 to 2010 as the wife of President Lech Kaczyński. She and her husband died in the plane crash in the Russian city of Smolensk. Early and per ...
. The
Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...
takes part in the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission to guard the airspace over the Baltic states including Latvia. Since 2017, a Polish military contingent has been stationed in Latvia as part of the
NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) is a NATO-allied forward-deployed defense and deterrence military force in Central and Northern Europe. This posture in Central Europe through Poland and Northern Europe through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, is in ...
defense forces. In 2022, Latvian and Polish gas grids were connected, following the commissioning of the GIPL interconnection, also providing Latvia with a connection to the EU gas market.


NATO and EU

Poland joined NATO in 1999, whereas Latvia joined NATO in 2004. Both countries became members of the European Union in 2004.


Resident diplomatic missions

* Latvia has an embassy in Warsaw. * Poland has an embassy in
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. File:Latvijas.vestnieciba.polija2.JPG, Embassy of Latvia in Warsaw File:Polish Embassy, Riga 104111.jpg, Embassy of Poland in Riga


See also

* Foreign relations of Latvia * Foreign relations of Poland *
Poles in Latvia The Polish minority in Latvia numbers about 51,548 and (according to the Latvian data from 2011) forms 2.3% of the population of Latvia. Poles are concentrated in the former Inflanty Voivodeship The Inflanty Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo infla ...
*
2004 enlargement of the European Union The largest expansion of the European Union (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population took place on 1 May 2004. The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries): ...
*
Poland in the European Union Poland has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004, with the Treaty of Accession 2003 signed on 16 April 2003 in Athens as the legal basis for Poland's accession to the EU. The actual process of integrating Poland into the EU b ...


References


External links


Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Poland

Latvian embassy in Warsaw (in Latvian and Polish only)

Polish embassy in Riga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latvia-Poland relations Poland Bilateral relations of Poland