Poland regained its independence 123 years after it was partitioned by neighboring powers following the World War I defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary, as well as the collapse of the Russian Empire in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
Speaking in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on Monday, Duda spoke of the importance of American support for Poland’s independence, especially that of the then-U.S. president Thomas Woodrow Wilson, who believed that Poland was to be a unifying factor in Europe.
Referring to Wilson’s address to the U.S. Congress on January 8, 1918, in which he presented a blueprint for world peace after World War I, Duda said that according to the 13th point, “an independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.”
He added that close relationships with the U.S. remain a cornerstone of Poland’s security policy and that: “We are grateful to our allies, the successive presidents of the United States, for coming here to us [...] and firmly repeating these words about security guarantees
“Especially in difficult times, when Russian imperialism has been reborn, and when today it is trying to destroy our neighbor [Ukraine], whom we support with all our might and who, we deeply believe, will also be a part of the free world with us, as thanks to the free world and its support it will defend itself against Russian aggression.”
He went on to say that there are “no doubts that for the security of Europe and the world it is necessary to strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties.
“It is a pipe dream, which some entertain, that Europe is able to ensure its own security today.”
But, he continued, Europe cannot rely on the U.S. to provide its security without contributing to it itself.
Duda said that during the Cold War, Soviet Russia “did not dare to attack the strong West, precisely because the West spent over 3 percent of GDP on its security in all NATO countries.
“Such was the hard policy implemented at that time and economically Soviet Russia was unable to cope with it.”
He added that today Russia also “will not be able to cope with a strong West. But it must be strong, strong with its own military potential, strong with its own economy and strong with ironclad support from and cooperation with the United States.”
Duda said that a strong West guarantees that Poland can continue to be a champion of freedom for other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, “States which cherish freedom, sovereignty and independence above anything else, as we do.
“We demand that independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and, above all, of Ukraine, should be absolutely observed.”
He added that Ukraine must return to its borders from before the Russian aggression, “but not the one that started in 2022, but the one of 2014.
“This is the demand of security, of the order of the world and of the strength and observance of international law,” the president said.
In 2014, Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, and, in 2022, it launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine.
