Halina Bieda from the Civic Coalition (KO) said: “The Silesian language should be recognized... as the language is one of the elements of cultural identity - it’s also a culture carrier.”

Monika Rosa of KO described the vote as historic. “The act on the Silesian language passed the first and second reading and the vote in the Sejm for the first time,” she said. “Now senators are dealing with a topic that is dear to thousands of Silesians.”

Two opposition parties - the conservative Law and Justice party, and the far-right Confederation - had sought to block the bill in its entirety but saw their motions rejected.

Under the bill, the Silesian language (spoken in the southwestern region of Silesia) will be inducted into the Act on National and Ethnic Minorities alongside Kashubian.

As part of it, schools will now be able to teach Silesian. Furthermore, towns with a Silesian-speaking population of over 20% will also be allowed bilingual street signs. The region will also benefit from funding initiatives aimed at preserving the language.

Additionally, two Silesian speakers will be appointed to serve on the Joint Commission of the Government and National and Ethnic Minorities.

The adoption of the bill is a victory for the Civic Coalition (KO) who included it in their pre-election manifesto. Perhaps more saliently, for Silesians the passing of the bill is the realization of a long-held dream. Previously, seven attempts to gain official recognition of their language or ethnic group had been rejected by parliament.

In 2021, 596,224 declared Silesian to be their nationality during the census. Of this number, 236,588 listed Silesian as their first nationality, whilst 187,372 declared themselves to be solely Silesian. The same survey found that 467,145 considered Silesian as their first language. Of this figure, 54,957 said that it was the only language that they spoke at home.