Polish President Duda Awards State Honours to Three Slovaks

Warsaw, 28 July (TASR-correspondent) - President of Poland Andrzej Duda awarded state honours to three Slovaks on Monday, with Jan Figel, Jan Hudacky and Pavol Macala being given the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for their outstanding contribution to the development of international cooperation and for their activities supporting the independence movements in Central Europe, TASR has learnt on the same day. Former EU commissioner Jan Figel told TASR that Poland deserves recognition for its contribution to the peaceful and non-violent transition to freedom after the fall of communism. "John Paul II, who came from this background, knew it very well and helped it a lot to return to freedom in a peaceful, non-violent way, which even happened," he said. Figel also stressed the importance of Poland in the peaceful transition to freedom after the fall of communism. "I'm glad that those 35 years of freedom are not only shared, but also very much marked by Poland's contribution," he noted. The ex-EU commissioner also drew attention to the current responsibility of the Central European countries for the direction of the continent. According to him, the solution to conflicts such as the war in Ukraine can come from Central Europe, if spiritual strength and political vision can be combined here. "The centre is not about geography, but about values, culture, proximity and belonging," he added. am