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Embassy of the Philippines, Warsaw

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Location
  
Warsaw

Phone
  
+48 22 490 20 25

Ambassador
  
Patricia Ann V. Paez

Embassy of the Philippines, Warsaw

Address
  
Stanisława Lentza 11, 00-001 Warszawa, Poland

Hours
  
Closed now Thursday9AM–4PMFriday9AM–4PMSaturdayClosedSundayClosedMonday9AM–4PMTuesday9AM–4PMWednesday9AM–4PM

Similar
  
Ambasada Socjalisty Republiki, Ambasada Królestwa Arabii Sa, Ambasada Islamskiej Republiki, Embassy of the Republic, Ambasada Republiki Kazachst

The Embassy of the Philippines in Warsaw is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the Republic of Poland. It is located on ul. Stanisława Lentza 11 in Wilanów, near the Wilanów Palace. Although the current embassy dates from 2009, the Philippines also maintained a previous resident embassy in Poland in the early 1990s.

Contents

History

The Philippines did not initially open a resident embassy in Poland when diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Poland were established on September 22, 1973. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were originally conducted via the Philippine Embassy in the Hague, which maintained jurisdiction over Poland until 1982, when jurisdiction was transferred to the Philippine Embassy in Berlin. In 1991, with the democratization of Poland, jurisdiction was transferred to the Philippines' newly opened resident embassy in Warsaw.

Financial difficulties forced the closure of the Philippine Embassy in 1993, with jurisdiction transferred to the Philippine Embassy in Budapest. In 2002 columnist Amando Doronila in the Philippine Daily Inquirer questioned the wisdom of closing the embassy at a time when the Philippine foreign service was being downsized despite the subsequent rise of Polish influence in Europe since then, as well as its eventual accession to the European Union in 2004. While there was no resident embassy in Poland, the Philippines conducted diplomatic relations in the country through an honorary consulate based in Warsaw. A second honorary consulate was opened in Wrocław in 2005, with jurisdiction over Poland's southern voivodeships.

On September 6, 2009, the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw was opened at its current location, around the same time new resident embassies in Ireland, Finland and Portugal were also opened. Alejandro del Rosario, who at the time was completing his deployment as Philippine Ambassador to Hungary, was appointed as the mission's first ambassador, ostensibly out of the need to open the post as soon as possible, and the honorary consulate in Warsaw was moved to Poznań. The opening of the mission was not without controversy: in 2010, Senator Franklin Drilon questioned the need for embassies in countries with small Filipino communities, including Poland, and called for a review of the Philippines' diplomatic presence worldwide. This led to the closure of ten posts in 2012, including the closure of the Philippine Embassy in Stockholm on October 31, 2012, which had jurisdiction over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Jurisdiction over the three countries was transferred to the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw.

Staff

As of 2013 the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw is headed by Ambassador Patricia Ann V. Paez, who was appointed to the position by President Benigno Aquino III on May 4, 2012. The Warsaw mission is one of the Philippines' smaller diplomatic missions, with a total of eight staff members.

References

Embassy of the Philippines, Warsaw Wikipedia