The meeting, which took place at Warsaw’s Belweder Palace, was also attended by the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who earlier in the day held talks with Duda as part of her visit to the Polish capital.
Both politicians also took part in US President Joe Biden’s virtual Summit for Democracy earlier on Thursday.
In his speech to Poland's Belarusian community at the Belweder Palace, the Polish president said: "You are here because many of you are unable to return to your homeland. Let me assure you that you are our guests, but we also treat you as brothers.”
“You are our brothers not just because of our similar background and culture, but also because of our shared history,” he added.
Duda told the gathering that when Poland emerged from under communism in 1989 and the Iron Curtain fell “it seemed that all the other countries had found success as well.”
However, “it was with great pain that we witnessed the worsening situation in Belarus over the years, culminating in the last presidential elections, which were a travesty of democratic principles,” he said.
“The voice of the people, who reacted against the distortion of their will, had been quelled in the way that we’ve just seen,” the president added, referring to a film that was screened during the meeting about Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s brutal crackdown on the opposition last year.
Return of democracy
“We are going together with you through this time which is so immensely difficult for you, yet we are full of belief that this reality will change,” Duda also said.
He noted he had spoken about the struggle for democracy in Belarus during the global democracy summit and said he hoped "this voice will be heard and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s presence noted.”
The president also voiced hope that “true, honest and credible democracy will return to Belarus sooner than many experts expect.”
“My foremost wish for you is that you are able to return to your homeland once it's free, democratic, independent and sovereign,” Duda told the gathering.
Meanwhile, Tsikhanouskaya said in her speech that the Polish and Belarusian nations had grown “closer than ever before” as the Polish people "are well aware that Belarusians are fighting for our freedom and yours.”
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info