Zelenskyy thanks Poland: Any challenges are nothing compared to strength between our peoples
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has presented state awards to a Polish journalist and a volunteer medic in Lublin. He thanked the Polish people, noting that any challenges on their shared path were "nothing compared to the strength between Ukrainians and Poles".
Source: Ukrainian president’s website
Quote from Zelenskyy: "I am proud that Ukraine has such a strong neighbour. I would like to thank you. I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Polish people, to all the people who, from the very first days, opened up their families and their homes [to refugees], opened their hearts and helped [us].
Any challenges on our common path are nothing compared to the strength between our peoples."
Details: While in Lublin on his way back from a working visit to Canada, Zelenskyy presented state awards to Polish journalist Bianka Zalewska and volunteer medic Damian Duda.
Bianka Zalewska, a journalist for TVN Discovery Poland, has been working in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone in Donbas since 2014, where she was severely injured. She collected and delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine as a volunteer. Since the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, she has provided significant assistance to units of Ukraine's Armed Forces; as a volunteer, she has helped transport seriously ill children to hospitals in Poland.
Rescue medic Damian Duda has assembled a team of medics who have been purchasing essential medicines with their own money and travelling to Ukraine to provide emergency medical care and evacuate wounded frontline soldiers to a stabilisation centre. He also set up a charity to fund the purchase of medicines for volunteer medical teams in Ukraine.
Bianka Zalewska was awarded the Order of Princess Olha, 2nd Class, and Damian Duda was awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd Class, by presidential decrees.
Background:
- The grain crisis has recently put relations between Ukraine and Poland under enormous strain. Poland reacted angrily to Zelenskyy's speech at the UN, and Ukraine has responded similarly to the Polish president’s recent remarks comparing Ukraine to a drowning man and the prime minister’s statement on arms supplies.
- The tension between Warsaw and Kyiv is related to unilateral Polish restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products and Ukraine's actions in response.
- Ukraine has proposed an export control plan for four crops – wheat, maize, sunflower and rape – to the European Commission and Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to protect their domestic markets.
- Despite this, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia decided to introduce unilateral restrictions. In response, Ukraine has filed a complaint against these three countries to the World Trade Organisation.
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