Polish-British relations

British-Polish relations are foreign relations between The United Kingdom and Poland.
The Polish-British links are old. In 1719 a granddaughter of the Polish king wed James the 3rd of Scotland.
During the 2nd world war 250 thousand Poles served with British forces taking part in many key campaigns. During the battle of Britain 1/12 of all pilots, were Polish.

I divided relations between Poland and Britain into 3 categories: cultural, political and business relations.

a) As far as cultural relations are concerned, there are plenty of British Internet pages offering information about polish culture, cuisine, festivals, literature, classical music and tourist?s attractions, f.ex. www.polishculture.co.uk. or www.polishculture.org.uk. And vice versa. There are plenty of internet blogs, written by Poles living in The Great Britain bringing up a subject of British culture, traditions and customs.
There are also few cultural institutes like f.ex. Polish Cultural Institute- a non- profit organization, dedicated to promoting Polish culture in Britain. Its programme covers art, film, theatre, music, literature and videogames.
There are several regional learning centers in the United Kingdom: There are six language schools offering polish language courses and 10 polish libraries.
President Kaczynski?s visit to the UK on 7 & 8 November 2006 represented another high in our bilateral relationship. His visit included meetings with Her Majesty The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as a visit to Edinburgh.
b) Polish-British business relations are actually very strong and healthy. Total value of British investment in Poland has reached $3.54 billion. Incredibly, the UK is Poland's fourth-biggest export market. Many British goods are international now, with Polish components.
The British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) was established in 1992 as the British Chamber of Commerce in Poland. Its original role is to support two-way trade and investment relations between the United Kingdom and Poland. The Chamber's regular events in Poland include business mixers, conferences, seminars and workshops aimed at the international business community and at Polish exporters interested in the UK market.
The balance of Polish-British trade is actually in Poland's favor. Polish exports perform well in Britain, since it makes for a more competitive market overall-which is good for British firms too. Tesco is by far the biggest British investor and currently the biggest retailer in Poland.
Commercial Union is a market leader, and its insurance and pensions services are "virtually a Polish institution these days." Provident Polska has also met with success-Poland is its most successful market outside the UK, with almost 900,000 customers.
POLITICS
Bilateral relations are excellent. An FCO-funded Action Plan helped Poland prepare for EU membership. Post-accession, the UK Government continues to assist the Polish Government. In the 1990s and 2000s democratic Poland has maintained close relations with Britain, both in defence matters and within the EU. Britain being the only country allowing equal rights to Polish workers upon their accession. Additionally Poland and Britain have worked closely together in many political issues offering an alternative to the French-German domination of the EU.
Polish British Political Relations have become especially close in the defence field, with our troops serving together in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and in Iraq. Regular joint military training exercises are conducted.