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1st-3rd March 1960. Bruno Kreisky’s fi rst visit to Poland in the light of Ministry of Foreign Affairs documents

Summary/Abstract: Following World War II, Polish-Austrian relations developed in a climate of mutual interest and political support. Despite fi nding themselves on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era, the communist People’s Republic of Poland (PRP) and the Republic of Austria worked for bilateral recognition and opportunities for trading collaboration from 1945 onward. During the early phase of post-1945 Polish-Austrian relations, occasional state visits were made by the highest echelons. The fi rst such event occurred from 1st to 3rd March 1960, when the then Austrian Foreign Minister, Bruno Kreisky, visited Warsaw. On the Polish side, preparations for the minister’s visit were made with extraordinary care. Among the circle of Western states, sui generis breakthroughs which would off er the chance of instigating the economic and political exchange so essential to a new people’s democracy were being sought. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Archive holds materials giving detailed descriptions of the preparations for, and the course of, the fi rst visit made to Poland by the highest of Austrian echelons. In a document entitled Points for the Talks, we read that the Polish government did not exclude the possibility of cooperation with Western states, including those which belonged to NATO, as well as of its desire to be appropriately prepared for that collaboration. In the minds of Polish diplomats, the Republic of Austria was to help in breaking the political isolation which affl icted the PRP.

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