HH the Dalai Lama Arrives In Warsaw for His Fourth Visit to Poland July 27, 2009

Warsaw, Poland, 27 July 2009 (Office of Tibet London) - His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Warsaw, capital of Poland, this evening from India. His Holiness was welcomed at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport by Mr Jaroslaw Jozwiak, Director Office of the Mayor of Warsaw, Ms Beata Bublewicz, Chair of Polish Parliamentary Group for Tibet and Mr Tsering Tashi, Representative of His Holiness at the Office of Tibet in London. His Holiness is on his fourth visit to Poland, with this visit primarily at the invitation of the Mayor of Warsaw and the Warsaw City Council to receive an honorary citizenship, as well as from the University of Warsaw to give a public talk.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was driven from the airport to the hotel where he was welcomed by the hotel's General Manager and hundreds of well-wishers including the small Tibetan community in this country.

Tomorrow morning, the Tibetan Nobel Peace Laureate will visit the prestigious University of Warsaw and meet with the University's Rector Prof Katarzyna Chalasinska-Macukow, other senior University officials and special guests, before giving a public talk on 'Value of Education & Universal Responsibility' to an audience of scholars, students and invited guests.

His Holiness will then attend an official lunch hosted by the Mayor of Warsaw and the Chairwoman of the Warsaw City Council. Following the official lunch, the Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader will be escorted by City officials to visit the Warsaw Rising Museum dedicated to the sacrifices made by thousands of Polish people to regain Poland's independence.

Later in the day His Holiness will open the Traditional Tibetan Herbal Health Clinic Co Ltd at the invitation of Ven Dr Tenzin Jangchub, a former student of the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute. The opening of this first Tibetan medical clinic in Poland is to be attended by some prominent medical figures, including Mr Pawel Trzcinski, President of the Polish Society on Health Communication and Dr Konstanty Radziwill, President of European Chamber of Doctors.

During the last high profile visit to Poland in December 2008, His Holiness visited four major cities of Gdansk, Krakow, Wroclaw and the capital Warsaw to among other engagements, address an international peace conference, receive an honorary doctorate, give public talks and address members of the Polish parliament at invitations from the Lech Walesa Foundation, the University of Krakow, the Mayor and City of Wroclaw and the Speaker of the Polish Senate. That visit, including the meeting with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy had with His Holiness in Gdansk, was extensively covered by the Polish and international media.

Report by the Office of Tibet, London