February 9, 2012 -- Warsaw – An AJC delegation has concluded a visit to Poland, marking the end of a six-country, eight-city European diplomatic tour.‪ ‪

AJC Executive Director David Harris and the delegation met with, among others, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, officials in the Presidential Chancellery, U.S. Ambassador Lee Feinstein, Israeli Ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner and the Chief Rabbi of Poland.‪

The continued threat of a nuclear Iran was the primary issue on the AJC agenda in its high-level meetings with Polish officials.  Poland, an EU-member state since 2004, strongly supported the January 23rd decision in Brussels to impose tough new sanctions on the defiant regime in Tehran.‪

"AJC's vibrant relations with Poland were made possible by the new, post-communist era," said Harris. "After 1989, when Poles courageously helped bring down the Iron Curtain, AJC realized the chance to be part of a new – and promising – chapter in the complex 1000-year history of Poland and the Jewish people. It has proven to be a wise investment. Poland today is a strategic partner of Israel and home to a small but noteworthy rebirth of Jewish life. It is also a country deeply committed to the transatlantic relationship and a trusted ally of the United States." ‪ ‪

The AJC group was gratified to hear frequent expressions of gratitude, during its meetings with Polish dignitaries, about the organization's stance on Poland since 1989, including AJC's unique – and, in the eyes of Polish leaders, consequential – support for Polish accession to NATO, and its efforts today to help ensure Poland's long overdue entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver program.‪

Among those officials was Andrzej Folwarczny, president of the Poland-based Forum for Dialogue Among Nations. The Forum, in partnership with AJC, conducts an annual Polish-Jewish exchange program, which was launched over 15 years ago. The program has involved hundreds of people in both Poland and the U.S.‪

"AJC is a unique institution," Folwarczny told a well-attended gathering of Polish alumni and friends – diplomats, civic leaders, journalists, businessmen and academics – at a reception for the AJC visitors.  "Beginning in 1989, the year of Poland's reborn democracy, AJC was the first American Jewish organization interested in Polish-Jewish relations. Today, more than 20 years later, AJC remains the preeminent leader in this field. The exchange program, together with other efforts, has had a profound and lasting impact on Polish-Jewish relations, Polish-Israeli relations, and, of course, Polish-American relations."‪