The Polish head of state made the declaration as he attended a virtual COVID-19 summit convened by US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
In a video message for the event, the Polish president said the pandemic was "an unprecedented global challenge" and a wide-reaching crisis with a "long-term impact on many aspects of our lives,” and so it required "close cooperation of each and every one of us."
“Let me be clear,” he declared, “Poland will continue to stand with the international community in the struggle against the coronavirus and its harmful effects."
Duda told world leaders that Poland helped more than 2,000 people from the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Ukraine, Turkey and South Korea reach their destinations "safe and sound" during the early stage of the global lockdowns when borders were being shut down amid the pandemic.
Moreover, Poland has donated 6 million vaccine doses, on its own or through the European Union's COVAX mechanism, the president said, to the likes of Ukraine, Vietnam, Spain, Australia, Portugal and Norway.
Duda vowed Poland would keep helping provide the shots swiftly to those who need them the most “in order to save lives."
He added that Poland sought to coordinate EU assistance for the bloc's eastern partners, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and was already supporting Libya’s anti-COVID-19 effort through the Visegrad Group, a Central European cooperation platform that also includes Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
“I call on all of us to provide assistance to people affected by the pandemic, especially those in developing countries and conflict-affected areas," the Polish head of state said.
"We stand ready to join forces and do anything it takes to protect life both in Poland and around the world," Duda concluded his message. “You can count on us.”
The virtual COVID-19 summit brought together some 100 leaders from around the globe, as Biden announced America would donate 1.1 billion vaccine doses to the rest of the world, news outlets reported.
The US president said Washington was delivering on his pledge that “America will become the arsenal of vaccines, as we were the arsenal for democracy during World War II.”
(pm/gs)
Source: president.pl, PAP