Brzezinski began his address in Polish. He said: “I’m very pleased to be the next United States ambassador to Poland. For me, an American of Polish descent, it’s a dream come true and a big honour.”
Switching to English, he added: “My journey here brings full circle the path followed by my grandfather, Tadeusz Brzeziński, a Polish diplomat from Przemyśl, now located on the border of Poland and Ukraine.”
On the eve of World War II, Tadeusz Brzeziński was appointed Poland’s consul-general to Montreal, Canada.
“He and my father Zbigniew Brzezinski, survived the war and set about building new lives in Canada and the United States,” the new ambassador said.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, despite not speaking fluent English until he was 15, and suffering from polio in his youth, managed to finish a Ph.D. at Harvard and became an associate professor of government, the ambassador noted.
“By the time I was a kid, Dad was a leading foreign policy thinker and served as President Carter’s national security advisor,” Mark Brzezinski said.
“For a Polish immigrant to stand toe to toe with the Soviets at the height of the Cold War, that’s something that only happens in America,” he added.
Reflecting on his own career so far, Mark Brzezinski said: “I graduated from Dartmouth, the University of Virginia and Oxford. I first came to Warsaw in 1991, on a Fulbright scholarship to research the Constitutional Tribunal.”
He added: “I wrote a book on Poland’s developing constitutional and rule-of-law institutions after the collapse of communism.”
Referring to his first stay in Warsaw, Mark Brzezinski said: “I saw the dramatic transformation of Poland and its capital city during my two years living here. Even more has changed since then. It’s an honour to be back in Warsaw.”
The diplomat noted that after practising as a lawyer, he joined the government, first in the White House on the National Security Council and then as US ambassador to Sweden.
'Iron-clad commitment to security cooperation'
“I know the United States and Poland share an iron-clad commitment to security cooperation, benefit from robust economic ties and embrace a historic friendship between our peoples,” he said.
“But I also know we must also agree to work together to ensure our shared future and the endurance of democratic principles in both countries,” Mark Brzezinski added.
He concluded: “As ambassador, I look forward to deepening the cooperation between our two countries and strengthening the ties between the Polish and the American people. Thank you.”
Mark Brzezinski is the son of the late Polish-born Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as US national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter and was a holder of the Order of White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honour.
The new US ambassador to Poland was sworn in on January 19 and arrived in the country two days later.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, rmf24.pl, pl.embassy.gov
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.