The honour, the Commander's Cross with a Star of the Polish Order of Merit, was presented to the retired politician by the Polish ambassador to the United States, Piotr Wilczek, during a ceremony in Washington on Thursday.
The Polish embassy cited 96-year-old Dole’s "outstanding contributions in support of the Polish political and economic transformation.”
It thanked him in a tweet for "being a friend of Poland."
Dole represented the midwestern state of Kansas in the US House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969 and in the Senate from 1969 to 1996. He served as the Republican Leader of the US Senate from 1985 to 1996.
He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 1996 election and the party's vice presidential nominee in the 1976 election.
He was one of the first American senators to explicitly support Poland's bid to join NATO in the 1990s, Poland’s niezalezna.pl news website reported on Friday.
The Polish Order of Merit, established in 1992, is awarded to foreigners and Polish citizens permanently residing abroad who have made an outstanding contribution to international cooperation and Poland’s ties with other nations.
(gs/pk)
Source: niezalezna.pl