Diplomatic Academy 2022

The Diplomatic Academy is the training and educational centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Academy provides training for Polish diplomats and supports professional development of MFA staff both in Poland and abroad. In cooperation with foreign partners, it carries out exchange programmes for officialst as well as study visits and training courses for diplomats and foreign officials. The Diplomatic Academy is also involved in promoting knowledge about the priorities of the Polish foreign policy through a network of Regional Centres for International Debate, located in each region of Poland. Pursuant to the Foreign Service Act of 2021, the Diplomatic Academy is headed by the Head of the Foreign Service.

MEETING OF THE HEAD OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE WITH PARTICIPANTS IN THE EUROPEAN DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY

Training for Ministry staff

The Diplomatic Academy creates unique growth opportunities for Polish diplomats since the best Polish foreign policy investment is an investment in the people who create it. The Academy’s educational offer includes training courses that develop soft skills, such as personal effectiveness, intercultural communication, work planning and organization, stress-coping and team building. We attach great importance to the development of language skills. Diplomats are offered classes, language workshops and study visits abroad for intensive language courses. The Diplomatic Academy is also responsible for organizing foreign language examinations at the Ministry which are open to everyone interested.

With an extensive network of international cooperation, the Diplomatic Academy offers Foreign Ministry employees participation in exchange programs for officials, foreign training courses and international conferences. Each year, more than 200 Ministry employees participate in specialized training abroad on security, hybrid threats, international negotiations, multilateral diplomacy or raising intercultural competence.

The Diplomatic Academy recruits candidates for internships at the European Commission and EU institutions under programs such as NEPT (National Experts in Professional Training) or Erasmus for civil servants. Young diplomats interested in pursuing a career in EU institutions can apply for the JPD (Junior Professionals in Delegation) internship program at the European External Action Service, the recruitment for which is processed by the Academy.

Diplomatic and consular training

The diplomatic and consular training organized by the Diplomatic Academy is a one-year series of courses which prepare its participants for future work in diplomacy. The training program consists of a theoretical part and domestic and foreign internships. The theoretical part includes meetings with experienced Polish diplomats, international policy experts, Polish foreign policy makers and diplomats from other countries. During the theoretical part, applicants have a chance to test their abilities in practice. In December 2022, participants in the diplomatic and consular training worked as liaison officers during the OSCE Ministerial Council in Łódź. In addition to long-term internships abroad, applicants also have a chance to visit Brussels and Vienna, which play an important role in the European and global diplomacy. This is where they hold meetings at the headquarters of EU, NATO, UN and OSCE institutions, as well as at Polish foreign missions. The training ends with participants taking the diplomatic and consular examination, after which they obtain their first diplomatic rank and become fully-qualified Polish diplomats.

IN DECEMBER 2022, PARTICIPANTS IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR TRAINING WORKED AS LIAISON OFFICERS DURING THE OSCE MINISTERIAL COUNCIL IN ŁÓDŹ

3 INTERNSHIPS OSCE

Regional Centres for International Debate

The Regional Centers for International Debate are initiatives run by NGOs and universities in 16 regional cities within a network coordinated by the Academy. The main task of the RCID network is to promote debate on issues relevant to Polish foreign policy at a regional level. The RCID network organizes promotional, outreach and education activities concerning Poland’s foreign policy and its Foreign Service, as an important partner of the MFA in the process of building a professional diplomatic workforce which is open to the world and responding to the challenges of a rapidly changing international environment.

One of the flagship projects run by the RCID network are regional diplomatic schools which provide a platform for MFA staff to reach all parts of Poland and share their experience of working in the foreign service with students and young professionals interested in international affairs, as well as promote employment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international organizations. The activity of the RCID network is the implementation of so-called „open diplomacy in practice.”

In 2022, the Regional Centres for International Debate delivered nearly 1,000 projects!

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ZBIGNIEW RAU PARTICIPATES IN THE INAUGURATION OF ŁÓDŹ SCHOOL OF DIPLOMACY

International cooperation

The Academy works with its counterparts as well as diplomatic and educational institutions worldwide. In 2022, the Diplomatic Academy became a member of the International Forum on Diplomatic Training (IFDT).

The Diplomatic Academy has signed more than 20 partnership agreements with foreign institutions responsible for training diplomats. In 2022, it concluded cooperation agreements on diplomatic training with the Egyptian Institute of Diplomatic Studies and Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY BARTOSZ MARCINKOWSKI AT THE CONFERENCE “INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON DIPLOMATIC TRAINING” IN NEW DELHI

The Academy organises study and training visits to Poland for foreign diplomats, including as part of the Enlargement Academy addressed to Western Balkan diplomats and the Three Seas Initiative – Diplomatic Fellowship Programme attended by diplomats from the Three Seas Initiative countries. In 2022, we also inaugurated the programme

“Introduction to Warsaw” which introduces the newly arrived members of the diplomatic corps to a life and work in Warsaw. In carrying out programmes for foreign diplomats, the Diplomatic Academy cooperates closely with Polish universities, think tanks (among other things, the Polish Institute of International Affairs and the Centre for Eastern Studies), NGOs, other ministries, departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Polish diplomatic missions. The Diplomatic Academy held three online lectures in 2022 for students of diplomatic academies in Romania, Spain and Portugal.

”ENLARGEMENT ACADEMY”

TRAINING PROGRAMME ADDRESSED TO YOUNG DIPLOMATS OF WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

12 PARTICIPANTS

6 COUNTRIES Enlargement Academy

11 PARTICIPANTS

11 COUNTRIES Three Seas Initiative Diplomatic Fellowship

46 PARTICIPANTS

32 COUNTRIES Introduction to Warsaw

5 DELEGATIONS

5 COUNTRIES International study visits

2 MEETINGS

Diplomat’s Club

17 COUNTRIES

The Academy coordinates the implementation of short-term and long-term traineeships for public administration staff in the European Union institutions, and participates in training projects launched by the EEAS, such as the European Diplomatic Academy and the European Diplomatic Programme.

Competitions, scholarships and fellowships

The Diplomatic Academy is also involved in supporting students and graduates to efficiently pursue their interests in international affairs. It is the Diplomatic Academy’s duty to coordinate the process of granting Polish government scholarships to Polish students at the College of Europe in Bruges and Natolin.

Thanks to the Diplomatic Academy, representatives of the Ministry are delegated each year to participate in fellowships at Harvard University and Oxford University where they do research important for the development of the Polish foreign service.

Every year since 1989, the Diplomatic Academy has organized the Foreign Minister’s competition for the best Master’s thesis on international relations. Its aim is to bring key questions on Poland’s place in the world and its foreign policy to students’ attention. Theses are evaluated by the Award Committee and prizes are awarded to authors at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

THE AWARDS CEREMONY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD BICYCLE DAY WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE HEAD OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE ARKADY RZEGOCKI AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY MARTA ZIELIŃSKA-ŚLIWKA

MFA library

The MFA library in Warsaw holds around 60,000 books on international relations, law, political thought, history and more. The MFA library also coordinates library collections at foreign missions. Thirty-three out of 120 Polish diplomatic missions have libraries open to the Polish diaspora and Poles living abroad.

The MFA library is older than the Ministry itself. It was established in 1917 as part of the Department of State of the Regency Council which preceded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

60 000 BOOKS

MFA library in Warsaw

MFA LIBRARY READING ROOM