Addressing the online meeting, which gathered more than 100 world leaders, Andrzej Duda said solidarity with Belarus was "one of the most important challenges of the democratic world today."
He told the global summit, which aimed to counter authoritarianism, that "Belarus lies 180 kilometres from Warsaw" and that his country's border with Belarus was "a border of democracy," with "a yawning gap between democracy and the lack of it."
In Belarus, "there is no discussion about the electoral system, polarization, minorities and ideologies," Duda said, but the main concern "is how to get 900 people out of prison, those whose only fault was the desire to have free elections" and "how to remove from power a dictator who has been ruling the country for 27 years and who, in breach of all civilized rules, rigged the vote" and cracked down on protests.
Duda also said that his own country, which shook off communism in the late 1980s, "took on a commitment years ago" to support democracy across Eastern Europe.
"It is a beautiful task, but it has its consequences," he said. "It has made us the target of the Kremlin propaganda, and more recently we have been paying the price in the form of a hybrid operation on our border provoked by the dictator" Alexander Lukashenko.
He pledged that Poland would "continue to be a promoter of democracy" and declared that "Belarusian women and men, 180,000 of whom have found work or shelter in Poland, will be treated by us as brothers and as most welcome guests."
Duda concluded: "I appeal to all of you for solidarity in this matter, I appeal for solidarity with Belarus. It is one of the most important challenges of the democratic world today."
Earlier on Thursday, Duda met with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the presidential palace in Warsaw to discuss political repression in her country and a migrant crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, president.pl