Poland established official diplomatic contacts with the State of Georgia nearly 100 years ago. The Democratic Republic of Georgia proclaimed independence on 26 May 1918. The Republic of Poland recognized it as early as on 29 January 1919 – two years before Georgia was recognized de iure by the Supreme Council of the Entente.
“I have the honour to inform you that the Government of Poland is willing to recognize the Government of Georgia as an independent organization de facto before the Peace Conference concedes to Georgia the status which is consistent with the will of her nation,” wrote the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Stanisław Patek in a special dispatch addressed to his Georgian counterpart Evgeni Gegechkori. “The Government of Poland expresses its firm belief that common interests of both states, as well as mutual friendly relations will be conducive to establishing bonds of friendly cooperation between Georgia and Poland in the near future. To that effect, the Government of Poland would be willing to host in Warsaw a representative of Georgia. To give proof of its friendly attitude, the Government of Poland has convened a special mission headed by Mr Tytus Filipowicz, which will go to Tiflis shortly to establish direct friendly relations.”
The dispatch reached Tiflis (as Tbilisi was called then) on 24 March 1920. As early as on 30 March, the Special Mission of the Republic of Poland to the South Caucasus, headed by Minister Plenipotentiary Tytus Filipowicz, arrived in the Georgian capital. The next day he presented his credentials to the chief of the Georgian diplomacy.
Georgia’s diplomatic representative in Warsaw from 1919 was Giorgi Sidamon-Eristavi. The Georgian diplomatic mission with its staff was evacuated to Poznan during the Polish-Bolshevik war.
The work of the Polish Special Mission was disrupted by the Bolshevik coup in the South Caucasus. Some of the Mission’s staff together with Tytus Filipowicz were arrested and interned. When the Red Army entered Georgia in spring 1921 and members of the Georgian government emigrated, it was impossible to send a diplomatic mission to Tbilisi and open a Polish embassy in the Georgian capital.
The Polish government did not recognize the Soviet annexation of Georgia and its forceful incorporation in the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The Polish authorities maintained contacts with representatives of the Georgian government-in-exile in Paris. Marshal Józef Piłsudski opened the borders to the cadets and officers of the Georgian army who took part in the September Campaign as contracted officers and fought in the ranks of the Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising.
The 70 years’ of Soviet dominance ended when the proclamation of Georgia’s independence in the spring of 1991. Soon after, Poland recognized the independent and sovereign State of Georgia for the second time in the 20th century. On 24 March 1992 the Council of the Ministers of the Republic of Poland adopted a resolution on this matter.
Diplomatic relations were officially re-established on 28 April 1992, during the visit of the Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Ukleba in Warsaw. The Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Georgia was signed then.
On 20 November 1995, the Polish embassy in Tbilisi was opened and began to function in autumn 1997.
The Georgian embassy in Berlin was accredited to Poland since 2001. In the years 2003 – 2004 a Georgian diplomatic mission functioned in Poland’s capital. The Georgian embassy in Warsaw was re-opened in 2005.
MFA Press Office
