Wiesław Karol Tarka (born 30 June 1964 in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

) is a Polish diplomat,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Ambassador to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

(2008–2012) and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(2014–2018).

Life

Wiesław Tarka finished High School No. 6, Bydgoszcz. He has graduated from

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

( M.A., 1988). He was studying also in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

During 1989 Polish legislative election campaign he was Solidarity Citizens' Committee volunteer, next two years cooperating in creating the foreign policy of the committee. He started his career as an assistant and

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

teacher between 1988–1991 and 1996–1997. He was working at the embassy in Stockholm between 1991 and 1996. He was back there between 1998 and 2002. From 2003 to 2005 he was head of the promotion and international cooperation unit at the Masovian Voivodeship Marshal's Office, and, afterwards, Culture Bureau deputy director at the City of Warsaw office. In 2005, he joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Between 15 November 2005 and 20 November 2007 he was the

Undersecretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

at the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

, being responsible for international cooperation, migration policy,

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

and Phare issues. In 2008 he became Poland ambassador to Croatia, ending his term on 31 July 2012. Since 4 November 2014 he was nominated an ambassador to Sweden, presenting his

letter of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal Diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to an ...

to king Carl XVI Gustav on 5 February 2015. He returned to Poland in June 2018 and took the post of the deputy director of the European Policy Department. Since June 2022 he serves as the deputy Ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Currently, he is the Coordinator of the 2019 Western Balkans Summit in Poznań. He speaks English, German, Swedish, Croatian, French and Russian languages.

Honours

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 ...

, Knight's Cross (Poland, 2012) * Order of Duke Branimir (

, 2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarka, Wiesław 1964 births Ambassadors of Poland to Croatia Ambassadors of Poland to Sweden Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Living people People from Bydgoszcz Polish philologists University of Warsaw alumni