EU Meetings
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

Belarus is an issue of considerable concern to the Polish Government. The Deputy is right. It is a major security concern for them. I think pretty much all of the major figures in the Belarusian opposition are based in Warsaw at the invitation of the Polish Government, so there is a strong link between them. At all levels of government, be it with Prime Minister Tusk, the Taoiseach, Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the Secretary of State Mr. Niemczycki, and myself, we have a very good relationship with Poland. That relationship has been brought to a new level by Ireland taking part in the Nordic-Baltic meetings before the European Council. Poland is now a part of this and it is now called the Northern Nine. Ireland chaired those meetings in the latter half of last year and Prime Minister Tusk was in the Irish delegation room meeting the Taoiseach as part of that. There is a really good relationship. There is a lot to build on and a lot to work on.
There is one thing we want to see that is lacking. There are not enough flights to Warsaw from Ireland. I know both ambassadors are working very hard on this. There are flights to lots of other places in Poland but at times it is quite difficult to get a flight to Warsaw. This is a concern to us all and we are working on it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26