He was speaking in a televised address on Friday evening, after a day which saw Poland's top officials marking exactly a decade since a plane carrying the country’s then-president, Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 others, including top political and military figures, went down near Smolensk, western Russia.
All aboard were killed in the crash, which scarred the national psyche and is still a source of arguments and recriminations.
‘Unimaginable tragedy’
President Duda described the crash on April 10, 2010 as an “unimaginable tragedy.”
He added that in the days after the tragedy, “we as Poles showed that in difficult times we can be a great community.”
Today, in the face of a coronavirus pandemic, Poles also need as sense of community, he said in his address.
“We need it to overcome this threat together, to together survive this difficult time for Poland, Europe and the world, to emerge victorious. And we must once again show that we can pass such a difficult test,” Duda added.
Earlier in the day, he paid tribute to the late president Lech Kaczyński and his wife in the crypt at Wawel Cathedral in the southern city of Kraków, where they are laid to rest.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a Twitter post that the presidential air crash 10 years ago was a national tragedy and “a moment when time stopped” for the Polish people as a community.
(pk)
Source: PAP