Status: 05.04.2023 2:02 p.m
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has arrived in neighboring Poland for his state visit. He thanked his Polish colleague for the help in the Russian war of aggression and for taking in refugees.
The visit of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyj to Poland was already unusual in advance: In contrast to Zelenskyj’s previous trips abroad, this was announced in advance without great secrecy.
It is also something special that Olena Selenska, the President’s wife, is there. Polish President Andrzej Duda’s foreign policy office said it was Zelensky’s first such visit since the beginning of the war.
Wlodomyr Zelenskyj with his wife Olena and Andrzej Duda with his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda.
Image: AP
The couple was received with military honors. The stay is intended as a gesture of gratitude to Poland, which has provided important assistance to Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
Especially in the first days of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the towns near the border in Poland “opened their doors and there were no borders between us,” Zelensky said at a meeting with his Polish colleague Duda in Warsaw.
1.6 million refugees from Ukraine in Poland
This is the beginning for there to be no more borders between neighboring countries in the future. “No borders whatsoever in political, economic and – particularly important – in historical terms,” emphasized the 45-year-old, referring to the difficult Ukrainian-Polish past.
Zelenskyy thanked Duda and the Poles for the help “on the difficult road to our victory”. Thanks to the people in Poland, Ukrainian refugees can “feel at home” in their neighboring country and are not just guests.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Poland has granted protection status to around 1.6 million refugees from the neighboring country. The EU and NATO country has also repeatedly campaigned for Western military aid for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia.
“White Eagle” for Selenskyj
Duda awarded Zelenskyj the highest Polish award, the Order of the White Eagle. Duda said in his appreciation that he received the medal for his services to the deepening of Polish-Ukrainian relations, his commitment to security and the defense of human rights.