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Georgia–Poland relations refers to thebilateral relations betweenGeorgia andPoland. Both nations enjoy close and historically friendly relations, rooted in similar experiences, solidarity and shared struggles against foreignimperialism, especially that ofRussia.[1]
Both countries are full members of theOSCE, theCouncil of Europe, theWorld Trade Organization and theUnited Nations. Poland is a member of theEU, which Georgiaapplied for in 2022.
The documented ties between Georgia and Poland reach back to the 15th century, when the Georgian (Kartlian) KingKonstantin sent a diplomatic mission to the Polish KingAlexander Jagiellon. Later, Polish KingJan III Sobieski tried to establish contacts with Georgia.[citation needed] Many Georgians participated in military campaigns led by Poland in the 17th century.Bogdan Gurdziecki, a Georgian, who was the greatest authority on all things Persian working in the Polish king's diplomatic service, made frequent diplomatic trips toPersia, on which he obtained, among other things, guarantees upholding earlier privileges for missionaries.[citation needed] Already during the rule of KingJohn II Casimir Vasa, he sent on missions toIsfahan, and King Jan III Sobieski availed himself of Gurdziecki's talents in like manner (in 1668, 1671, 1676–1678, in 1682–1684, and in 1687). Gurdziecki remained at the court of the shah for several years in the capacity of special resident and representative of the Polish king; it was he who delivered to the shahSuleiman news about the victory of the Polish-led Christian forcesat Vienna (1683).[citation needed]
In the late 18th century, Poland lost its independence in the course of thePartitions of Poland, and its territory was annexed byPrussia (laterGermany),Russia andAustria, while Georgia was annexed by Russia in the 19th century.[1] Since then, the history of the two nations was intertwined and there were migrations, often forced, in both directions. Already in 1794, the Russians were sending captured Polish prisoners of war from theKościuszko Uprising to the Caucasus region, including Georgia.[2] Following the partitions and then following the unsuccessful PolishNovember Uprising of 1830–1831, many Poles who were forcibly conscripted to theRussian Army were sent to Georgia.[3] In 1832, the Russians discovered a Georgian independence conspiracy and then deported some of its participants to theRussian Partition of Poland.[4] Among them wasGiorgi Eristavi, Georgian poet and playwright, who learned Polish during his exile and later translated poems of the Polish national poetAdam Mickiewicz into Georgian.[4] Since the 1830s, Polish officials, teachers, midwives, craftsmen, merchants and doctors also settled in Georgia, and many married local Georgians.[5] About 4,000 Poles, mostly soldiers, lived in Georgia as of 1840.[6] By the mid-19th century,Polish communities existed in various Georgian cities, includingTbilisi,Kutaisi,Gori,Signagi, andTelavi.[7] In 1870 a Polish Catholic church was built in Tbilisi, which served its Polish community.[1] Poles in Georgia were under the watchful eye of the Russian authorities, as they were constantly considered a potential threat.[8]
Poles made great contributions in the fields ofarchitecture, geography, arts,botany andzoology in Georgia. In the 1840s, PoleWładysław Bahrynowski [pl] established a botanical garden inSukhumi.[9] Great contributions to the botany and zoology of Georgia were made byLudwik Młokosiewicz, a Pole, who initially came toLagodekhi in 1853 to do his compulsory military service in the Russian Army, but eventually stayed permanently.[10] Młokosiewicz discovered various species of plants and animals on Georgian soil, and founded theLagodekhi Protected Areas.[11][12] He invented a method to eradicatemalaria in Georgia, which earned him widespread respect among the Georgian people.[13] Młokosiewicz also expanded the knowledge of Georgian fauna and flora in Poland by maintaining contacts with museums and institutions inWarsaw, to which he sent Georgian botanical and zoological specimens, as well as through scientific publications.[14]
Józef Chodźko conducted pioneering geographical and geodetic surveys of Georgian lands.[15] Polish architects worked in various Georgian cities, including Tbilisi, Kutaisi,Batumi,Poti and Sukhumi, designing many residential houses as well as theaters, schools, courts, incl. the presentSupreme Court of Georgia.[16]Aleksander Szymkiewicz even became a city councillor and the municipal architect of Tbilisi, while Józef Kognowicki became the municipal engineer of Tbilisi, responsible for constructing the city's modern water supply and sewage system.[16] Polish architects were also involved in the restoration of historic Georgian churches, and contributed to the construction of roads and railroads and the expansion of seaports in Poti, Batumi and Sukhumi.[16] Ferdynand Rydzewski headed the construction of the Surami Tunnel under theSurami Pass, the longest railroad tunnel in the Caucasus.[17] Before 1914 about 500 Poles were employed in the construction of railroads, roads, bridges, public buildings and pipelines on Georgian lands.[12] Polish artists (musicians, writers, painters) also lived in Georgian cities, some being founders or co-founders of art schools in Tbilisi.[18] Polish painterZygmunt Waliszewski spent his youth in Batumi and Tbilisi, and the first years of his career in Tbilisi, before returning to Poland after it regained independence.[8]
In 1863, Petre Nakashidze, future Georgian lecturer and activist, was an eyewitness of the PolishJanuary Uprising in the Russian Partition of Poland. His accounts began to be published by the Georgian press, but after the first part was published, the Russian censorship intervened and stopped the publication of the subsequent parts.[19] A fundraising for Polish insurgents was organized in Tbilisi in the spring of 1863.[20] In the second half of the 19th century, some ethnic Georgian officers and officials were sent to the Russian Partition of Poland.[21] The commander of theDęblin andWarsaw fortresses wasIvane Kazbegi, who later settled in restoredindependent Poland in theinterbellum and joined the Polish Army.[21] Young Georgians came to study inWarsaw, where they sought inspiration and examples for their national liberation activity.[22] In Warsaw, Georgian students founded the League for the Liberation of Georgia, which was discovered by Russians and its members were arrested, including future writerShio Aragvispireli.[22] Future leader ofindependent Georgia and then theGeorgian government-in-exileNoe Zhordania studied at the Veterinary Institute in Warsaw.[22]
Both countries regained independence in 1918. In 1918, the PolishRegency Council sent diplomat Wacław Ostrowski to Georgia. Ostrowski organized a Polish consular agency in Tbilisi and began talks with Noe Zhordania on a military alliance.[23] In 1920 the consular agency was upgraded into a consulate, and then in 1921 into a consulate general with a plan to further upgrade it into an embassy.[23] Poland and Georgia had established good relations and signed analliance. Both countries were invaded bySoviet Russia. Polandsuccessfully repelled the Russian invasion and secured its independence, butGeorgia was conquered. Poland maintained contacts with theGeorgian government-in-exile.[23] As a result of repatriation of Poles to Poland, their number in Georgia decreased from over 15,000 in 1914 to 3,000 in 1926.[24] Many Georgian military officers found refuge in Poland and joined the Polish Army. The officers fought in Polish defense during the joint German-Sovietinvasion of Poland which startedWorld War II in 1939. Many then joined thePolish resistance movement and some also fought in theWarsaw Uprising in 1944. Several Georgian officers were also among Poles murdered by the Russians in the largeKatyn massacre in 1940. Poles in Georgia were among the victims of the so-calledPolish Operation and Kulak Operation, carried out by the Soviet Union during theGreat Purge in 1937–1938.[1] Among the victims was painter, graphic artist and illustratorHenryk Hryniewski.
AfterOperation Barbarossa in 1941, many Polish refugees from Soviet-occupied eastern Poland ended up in Georgia, where they encountered local Poles as well as friendly Georgians.[25] After theSikorski–Mayski agreement, the Polish embassy inMoscow was allowed to establish local offices in theGeorgian SRR and organize care for the Polish population in Georgia.[26] Many Poles then joined the newly formedAnders' Army.[26] In July 1942 the Soviets liquidated the Polish offices in Georgia and then mostly arrested their officials in order to replace them with newly formed puppet Polish structures, subordinated to the communist authorities.[26] During the war, about 10,000 Polish refugees ended up in Georgia, however their number gradually decreased, as many Poles joined theAnders' Army, then theFirst Polish Army and also returned to Poland.[27] According to official data, in January 1945 there were still 1,879 registered refugees from Poland in Georgia.[28] After the war, in the years 1946-1948, 3,000 people were repatriated from Georgia to Poland.[29]
The diplomatic relation was reestablished on 28 April 1992,[23] following the restoration of independent Georgia in 1991. In 1993 a friendship and cooperation treaty and a cultural and scientific cooperation agreement were signed.[23]
In 2007 in Warsaw presidentsLech Kaczyński andMikheil Saakashvili unveiled a monument to Georgian officers of the Polish Army who lost their lives in theKatyn massacre, in the Warsaw Uprising and on many fronts of World War II.[30] In 2011 the Museum of Georgian Officers of the Polish Army was opened in the former house of Nikoloz Matikashvili, Georgian Major of the Polish Army, inPiaseczno near Warsaw.[31]
During theRusso-Georgian War in 2008, Poland strongly supported Georgia. The President of Poland,Lech Kaczyński, flew to Tbilisi along with other Central and Eastern European presidents to rally against the Russian military buildup and subsequent military conflict.
After several attacks on the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, the Polish president allowed the Georgian MFA to publish its messages on his website.
April 11, 2010, was declared a day of national mourning in Georgia to commemorate the 96 victims of theSmolensk air disaster, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, with the Georgian president's administration stating that "Georgia lost the greatest friend in the international community, Poland and Europe lost the greatest politician."[32] Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attended thestate funeral of Lech and Maria Kaczyński inKraków despite theair travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption.[33]
In 2004–2018, Poland spent over 140 millionPLN for implementation of more than 300 projects in Georgia as part of a development assistance programme.[23] Since the introduction of visa-free travel in 2017, there has been an increase in emigration from Georgia to Poland, mainly for work.[34] In 2018, a Polish-Georgian Parliamentary Assembly and a Polish Institute in Georgia were established.[23] On May 20, 2018, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Georgia's independence was held in Warsaw, including at theTomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the most important ceremonies on Polishnational days are held.[35] In November 2021, Poland donated 468,000COVID-19 vaccines to Georgia.[36] In 2021 the number of Georgian citizens with validresidence permits in Poland exceeded 10,000.[37]
At the 2021Georgian Independence Day celebration in Tbilisi, Polish PresidentAndrzej Duda declared Poland's support for Georgia's candidacy forNATO and theEU, stating thatthere are few countries and nations as close to each other as ours.[38]
In response to the2024–2025 Georgian political crisis, Poland banned eight Georgian officials in April 2025 from entering the country due to their alleged role in violence against anti-government protesters.[39]
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