North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to engage with the Polish community by getting involved in events planned for Polish Heritage Day.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter with the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan AM, when questioning her in the Welsh Parliament this week over her engagement with overseas countries who have citizens and people living in Wales.
He said:
“Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of joining the festive fun as a guest at the Wrexham Polish Integration Support Centre's Christmas Party, and I've been invited to their Polish Heritage Day on 9th May.
“In 2017, the Polish Embassy in London introduced a Polish Heritage Day to the calendar of regular events across the UK, with over 40 events initially planned, supported by Polish Consulates in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. What engagement, if any, does the Welsh Government have with this agenda thus far and, if not, will you be interested in becoming engaged as this goes forward?”
The Minister told Mr Isherwood that she is “very interested” in linking up with the Polish community in particular, “because it's one of our biggest diaspora communities in Wales”.
She added: “I certainly underlined that to the Polish Ambassador when I met him in London recently. So, rather than waiting for them to come to Wales now, part of what I'm trying to do is to go to London, invite them to come to us, so that we can give them those clear messages.
“One of the things you'll see in the International Strategy is we're going to be celebrating a different community every year and, certainly, one of the ones that I would want to be celebrating is the Polish community. As it happens, we're inviting the German national disapora, which is one of our largest diaspora in Wales, to come and join us to meet with the Ambassador next week”.
