The key event for Rau on Thursday will be his appearance before the US Congress's Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the US Helsinki Commission, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
The government agency was created by Congress to work with the Organisation for Security and Cooperations in Europe (OSCE), which Poland is chairing in 2022.
As the OSCE’s current Chairperson-in-Office, the Polish foreign minister will outline the priorities of Poland's turn at the rotating presidency of the organisation.
The meeting is expected to focus on the standoff between the West and Russia over Ukraine, the Polish state news agency reported, citing a source at the OSCE.
“But mention will also be made of other institutional issues at the OSCE, as well as human rights and the rule of law,” the official as quoted as saying.
Earlier on Thursday, Rau will hold talks with Pompeo, who served as CIA chief and secretary of state during the presidency of Donald Trump.
Poland’s ambassador to the United States, Marek Magierowski, was quoted as saying that the meeting would be “beneficial to both sides given Pompeo’s knowledge of geopolitics and his political influence."
Pompeo is a potential Republican candidate for the 2024 US presidential election, the PAP news agency reported.
“We all know how important it is for Polish-American relations to cut across party lines,” Magierowski said ahead of Rau’s visit.
Talks with US lawmakers
Later in the day, Rau is scheduled to meet with Helsinki Commission Chairman Ben Cardin, members of the House of Representatives’ cross-party Poland Caucus, and Republican senators Ted Cruz and Jim Risch.
Cruz is known as a staunch supporter of slapping sanctions on the controversial new gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, Nord Stream 2, according to PAP.
After those meetings, the Polish foreign minister will hold a news conference before attending the launch of the Washington office of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), a government-affiliated Polish think tank.
Meeting with Blinken
On Friday, Rau is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and take part in bilateral talks on issues such as energy security, according to officials.
Poland’s top diplomat will also convene with President Joe Biden’s top Asian affairs advisor Kurt Campbell, reporters were told.
Finally on Saturday, Rau will visit Washington’s Holocaust Museum and speak to its director, Sara Bloomfield, before laying a wreath at the grave of Poland’s World War II hero Jan Karski, PAP reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP
