Warsaw, 11 February 2025
Supporting the building of resilience in public institutions and societies in developing countries, as well as the issue of development financing, were the main topics of discussion during the informal Council for Foreign Affairs in the format of Ministers for Development (FAC DEV) on 10-11 February 2025 in Warsaw.
The informal meeting of ministers was chaired by Minister Jakub Wiśniewski, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was also attended by Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sîkela, President of the European Investment Bank Nadia Calviño, Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Mark Bowman, and representatives of the European Parliament.
“We are pleased that the Polish presidency is able to host EU development ministers in Warsaw. With the participation of Commissioner Jozef Sîkela, we discussed current challenges, as well as opportunities to support developing countries in building strong international partnerships,” emphasised Minister Jakub Wiśniewski.
Supporting the building of resilience in developing countries as a priority of EU international cooperation
The actions of the Polish presidency in the field of development cooperation are focused on building and strengthening the resilience of partner countries. In light of the current geopolitical situation, we must focus on the fundamentals: building the resilience of states and building the resilience of societies.
Using the examples of Mauritania, Ukraine, and Syria, the ministers discussed best practices in supporting partner countries in dealing with crises – both humanitarian and developmental.
The ministers emphasised the need for a comprehensive and long-term approach to the challenges. In this context, they agreed that the opportunities offered by the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, including the involvement of the European private sector, should be fully utilised.
We come to the partners with a unique offer combining sustainable investments with supporting measures in education, training or skills-transfer. The goal of the Global Gateway is to ensure that this offer generates expected outcome. Europe is the world’s largest provider of official development assistance. Our Member States, together with EU institutions, provide 42% of global development assistance – despite accounting for only about 16% of global GDP.
Source – Polish EU Presidency