On the occasion of the Open Days of CERIS, H.E. Mr. Rafał Siemianowski Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Kingdom of Belgium, delivered a conference on “The Polish foreign policy towards the war in Ukraine” on Saturday, October 14th, 2023. The ceremony took place in the presence of many ambassadors, the President of CERIS, Professor Guy Olivier Faure, the Vice President of CERIS, Mr. Nicholas Williams, the Secretary General of CERIS, Ms. Nadia Karorero and the Director of CERIS, Mr. Nicolas Cornil.
H.E. Mr. Rafał Siemianowski is a civil servant and a diplomat. He has served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Kingdom of Belgium since November 2021. Before this appointment, H.E. Mr. Siemianowski worked for many years as a civil servant at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister (2006-2012; 2015-2020). As a deputy director of the Bureau of the Prime Minister he closely worked with successive Heads of the Chancellery and was responsible for the correspondence, documents and decisions of the Prime Minister and the Head of the Chancellery. In 2020 he was appointed Undersecretary of State and Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. In this capacity he supervised a broad range of issues including legislation, control and international affairs analysis. In 2012-2015 he served as a counsellor at the Polish Embassy in London. His portfolio consisted of two main fields: the Polish-British science and academic cooperation as well as British policy towards Africa, the Far East, South America as well as Australia and Oceania.
Ambassador Siemianowski graduated from international relations at the University of Warsaw (2004) and the National School of Public Administration (2006). During his studies he gained practical experience as an intern at the Polish Embassy in Bern (2002) and the prefecture of the Manche Department in France (2005). Before the Polish Presidency in the EU he did an internship at DG Relex, the European Commission (2009/2010). In 2014, as a scholarship holder of the Jan Karski Educational Foundation he participated in the Georgetown Leadership Seminar (the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University). In 2019 he developed his managerial skills at IESE Business School (ARGO Top Public Executive 2). He is married and has one daughter. History is his main hobby.