Ambassador Ashe visited the Lubuskie Province from June 20-21.
During this visit he discussed economic, political and cultural matters with government officials, parliamentarians, religious leaders, educators and NGOs in Gorzow Wielkopolski, Zielona Gora, Slubice, Nowa Sol and Glogow.
With this visit, Ambassador Ashe has visited all of Poland’s sixteen provinces in less than a year.
The Ambassador began his visit in Gorzow Wielkopolski with a call on Lubuskie Province Governor Janusz Gramza, at which they discussed the province’s economic and tourist potential.
Following this meeting, Ambassador Ashe presented certificates to student volunteers from High School Nr. II who participated in a program to improve job skills of unemployed Poles by teaching them English. The Bachalski Foundation organized this program, which was financed in part by a grant from the Embassy.
In Slubice, the Ambassador visited the Collegium Pollonicum, where he discussed a U.S.-sponsored NGO capacity building project and investment opportunities with local officials. A
At the Slubice Jewish Cemetery, the Ambassador paid homage to noted Rabbi Josef Teomin, who rests there.
He praised the City of Slubice’s actions to return the cemetery to the Jewish community as a “significant positive step at a time when anti-Semitism is increasing in other parts of Europe and the world.”
In Zielona Gora, Ambassador Ashe and Solidarity Trade Union National Deputy Chairman Maciej Jankowski discussed plans for celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the union’s founding.
The Ambassador remarked that this anniversary “is an opportunity to remind people, not only in Poland but elsewhere, of the role Solidarity played in beginning the end of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe.”
Meeting with participants in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Local Partnership Program, the Ambassador praised the Lubuskie Province for its activity role in the program, which provided U.S. know-how in reducing unemployment.
The Ambassador also met with city leaders Piotr Barczak and Janusz Lewicki, Bishop Adam Dyczkowski, university Rector Michal Kiesielewicz; and visited the Lubuskie Regional Museum.
In Nowa Sol, Ambassador Ashe toured the city’s industrial park together with Mayor Wadim Tyszkiewicz. He also met with parliamentarians Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Dariusz Bachalski.
Visiting Glogow, the Ambassador met with mayor Zbigniew Rybka and visited Glogow’s historic old town.
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