Paweł Robert Kowal (born 22 July 1975) is a Polish politician and former

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. During his time in the EP, he served as the Chairman of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. Kowal was elected to the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

in the 2005 election for

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

, from the 12 – Chrzanów district. He won re-election in 2007. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he ran for the

in the Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie constituency. He came second amongst PiS candidates, behind

Zbigniew Ziobro Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro (; born 18 August 1970) is a Polish politician. He served as the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland in the Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki until 27 November 2023. He previously served in the same role from Octo ...

, taking the second Law and Justice seat won. He resigned his seat in the Sejm three days later. During the

2010 Ukrainian presidential election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

Kowal was the head of the delegation of the European Parliament's observers. He joined

Poland Comes First Poland Comes First (), also rendered as Poland is the Most Important, shortened to Poland First, and abbreviated to PJN, was a centre-right, conservative liberal, political party in Poland. It was formed as a more moderate breakaway group from ...

when that party split from Law and Justice in 2010. In December 2013, he joined the new centre-right

Poland Together Poland Together (, PR or PRZP), formally Poland Together United Right (''Polska Razem Zjednoczona Prawica''), was a conservative-liberal political party in Poland. The party was founded on 7 December 2013 by former Minister of Justice and Civic ...

party formed by

Jarosław Gowin Jarosław Adam Gowin (born 4 December 1961) is a Polish conservative politician and editor. Gowin served as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk between 2011 and 2013, and as Minister of Science and Higher Education ...

, the former minister of justice, formerly of

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

. In 2019 he was re-elected to the

from Civic Coalition. He became deputy chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee. He was re-elected in 2023 and now serves as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. As a member of the Civic Coalition, he is seen as one of the coalition's most conservative members.

Biography

Education and early career

Pawel Robert Kowal graduated from Konarski Secondary School in Rzeszów. Kowal graduated from the Faculty of History at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

in 1999. He studied at

Collegium Invisibile Collegium Invisibile is an Learned society, academic society founded in 1995 in Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw that affiliates outstanding Polish students in the humanities and science with distinguished scholars in accordance with the idea of a libera ...

in Warsaw between 1996 and 1998 under Professor

Krystyna Kersten Krystyna Kersten (pen name, Jan Bujnowski; born Krystyna Goławska May 25, 1931 in Poznań – July 10, 2008 in Warsaw) was a Polish historian, a professor at the Historical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of Collegium In ...

. While there, he participated in study abroad programs in Russia in

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. To its nort ...

, and

Khakassia Khakassia (), officially the Republic of Khakassia, is a republic of Russia located in southern Siberia. It is situated between Krasnoyarsk Krai to the north and the Altai Republic to the south. The capital city of Khakassia is Abakan, and the ...

. In 1999, he became an assistant at the Institute of Political Studies at the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

. There Kowal defended his doctoral thesis ''Politics of General

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski ( ; ; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military general, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party ...

's administration 1986-1989''. Attempts at political system reform in January 2011. He was habilitated on 22 February 2019 at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISP PAN) in the field of social sciences, the same year he took up the position of professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He also became a lecturer at the University of Warsaw's Eastern European Studies Department, and took the position of head of the Postgraduate Eastern Studies there. In his scholarly work, he has taken a special interest in the issues of Poland's and the EU's eastern policy and contemporary history. Between 1998 and 2000, Kowal worked in, amongst others, the office of the Prime Minister and the office of the head of the Polish Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2000-2001 he served as the Director of the Department of International Relations and European Integration in the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage () is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state o ...

. Between 2001 and 2003, he worked as an expert on Eastern foreign policy in the Center for International Relations. From 2003 to 2005, he was the director of the Mazovian Regional Center of Culture and the Arts. In 2003, Kowal co-founded the

Warsaw Uprising Museum The Warsaw Rising Museum (), in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for many years. It opened on July 31, 20 ...

, and has worked as an expert for the Museum ever since. In 2005, he led the Press Office of the Mayor of Warsaw. He continues to contribute articles on international relations.

Political career

From 2002 to 2005, Kowal was the chairman of the Ochota district council in Warsaw. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, Kowal was elected to the Sejm from the okreg (electoral district) of Chrzanow as a member of Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) (Law and Justice), where he served as chairman of the Committee on Culture and Media and as vice-president of PiS in the Sejm. Between 20 July 2006 and 22 November 2007, Kowal served as Secretary of State in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in President Jaroslaw Kaczynski's cabinet. Pawel Kowal was re-elected in the 2007 Sejm elections, and served again as vice-president of PiS in the Sejm, as well as vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Pawel Kowal was elected in 2009 to

from the Kraków electoral district. Once in Parliament, Mr. Kowal joined the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), serving as chairman of the parliamentary delegation to Ukraine. Pawel Kowal left Law and Justice on 22 November 2010 to become a co-founder of Polska Jest Najważniejsza (PJN) (Poland Comes First). On 4 June 2011 he was elected the President of the party. On September 7 of the same year, he was appointed to the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. In December 2013 members of PJN decided to join the newly formed

party, where Paweł Kowal became the head of the party's National Committee. In October 2019, he successfully ran in the parliamentary elections with the Civic Coalition from the Cracow region. He was re-elected in October 2023 and now serves as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Since April 2024 he is a Chairman of the Council for Cooperation with Ukraine, government agency created by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

to manage collaboration between government entities and the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

on rebuilding

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

after conclusion of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Professional career

Kowal was the chairman of the Rzeszów Youth Council. Between 1996 and 1998, he served as the president of the Jagiellonian club while working in the Miroslaw Dzielski Center in Kraków. From 1997 to 2005 he worked in th
Center for Political Thought
where he managed the Polish State program for Poles in the East. Kowal is a member of Association "Polish Community," a Polish Senate-sponsored organization dedicated to building ties between Poland and Polonia, and is also an associate member of th
World Association of the Home Army
Kowal has worked with the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański program of the College of Eastern Europe ( Kolegium Europy Wschodniej) in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

since 2007. He has also sat on the board of the

Institute of Public Affairs The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a conservative non-profit free market public policy think tank, Political links and networking The IPA Victoria was founded during World War II by businessmen in response to the feared growing power of ...

, a Polish think tank. In 2008, he became an honorary member of the Volunteer Fire Department in Chocznia, Poland.

Private life

Kowal is married and has four children.

Awards and decorations

*Officer of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

– 2014 *Prof. T. Strzembosz Award – 2013 *Order of Christ the Saviour (Ukraine) – 2013 *

Order of Merit (Portugal) The Order of Merit () is a Portuguese Honorific Order of civil merit intended to award those responsible for meritorious acts or services performed in the exercise of any functions, both in the public and the private sphere, which reveal self-sacr ...

, Grand Cross – 2008 * Order of Merit, Third Class (Ukraine) – 2007 (awarded in 2009) * Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (Poland) – 2005 * Silver Guardian Medal of the Places of National Remembrance (Poland) – 2005

References

External links

*
Paweł Kowal - parliamentary page
- includes declarations of interest, voting record, and transcripts of speeches. (not online any more, link to page included in waybackmachine archive).
Paweł Kowal - European Parliament page ECR information pageTwitter account

Publications

"Only For People with Strong Nerves" (New Eastern Europe)"Lutsenko's Release Was A Triumph For All, Except Ukraine" (The Ukrainian Week)"Treat Lukashenko With Respect" (Belarus Digest)

"Doves vs. Hawks: A post-election draw" (New Eastern Europe)

Academic articles

*''Państwo polskie wobec Polaków na Wschodzie (współautor), Kraków 2000'' *''Włodzimierz Bączkowski. O wschodnich problemach Polski. Wybór pism (współautor), Kraków 2000, Wrocław 2005'' *''Nie jesteśmy ukrainofilami (współautor), Wrocław 2002, 2008'' *''„Wymiar wschodni” UE – szansa czy idée fixe polskiej polityki? (redaktor, współautor), Warszawa 2002'' *''Krajobrazy z Mistralami w tle, Kraków 2011'' *''Koniec systemu władzy. Polityka ekipy gen. Wojciecha Jaruzelskiego w latach 1986–1989, Warszawa 2012'' *''Między Majdanem a Smoleńskiem. Rozmawiają Piotr Legutko i Dobrosław Rodziewicz, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2012'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kowal, Pawel 1975 births Living people Members of the Polish Sejm 2005–2007 Members of the Polish Sejm 2007–2011 Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023 MEPs for Poland 2009–2014 Poland Comes First politicians Law and Justice MEPs People from Rzeszów Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Poland Together MEPs Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Jagiellonian University alumni Polish political scientists 21st-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Members of the Polish Sejm 2023–2027