President Duda thanks veterans for their patriotism and sacrifice - News - National Security Bureau

29.05.2018

President Duda thanks veterans for their patriotism and sacrifice

In a letter from President Andrzej Duda, read out in Kielce by presidential aide Andrzej Zybertowicz during celebrations marking the Day for Veterans of Foreign Missions, the head of state underscored that "soldiers of the Republic of Poland, faithful to the glorious traditions of the Polish military, defend our freedom and independence."

President Andrzej Duda has thanked Polish veterans for their patriotism, sacrifice and courage.

"We also remember those who fell in the service of the Motherland," President Duda wrote on Twitter on the occasion of the Day for Veterans of Foreign Missions observed in Poland on Tuesday.

The Day for Veterans of Foreign Missions was instituted in a 2011 law on veterans. It falls on the same day as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, instituted by the UN General Assembly.

Over 100,000 Polish soldiers and several thousand law enforcement officers have taken part in foreign missions since the 1950s. Some 120 Poles have died while on foreign missions.

The President highlighted that Polish soldiers take part in international operations of different types, including UN, EU and NATO missions. "Because today's world is in so many places full of threats and contempt for human civilisational achievements. By taking part in missions we prove that Poland, as a part of the international community, does not isolate itself from the problems of global security," the president declared, going on to say that the Polish army receives "respect and admiration of its allies" by taking part in missions.

"Our veterans know the hard truth, that Poland also fights for security far from its borders. Poles, soldiers, officials of many services, but also civilian workers go to places of conflict and war to serve peace. Their role in missions have been and are an expression of the utmost devotion and sacrifice for the Motherland."

Source: president.pl