The main observance ceremony took place at noon in the Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square in Warsaw, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
President Andrzej Duda told the gathering that since re-emerging on the map of Europe on November 11, 1918, for much of the subsequent period “Poland has been a sovereign and independent country.”
“The Poles have been a free people living in their own country,” he added.
‘Independence is not given once and for all’
At the same time, the president warned that “independence and freedom are not given once and for all, they can be lost, they can be absent, somebody may take them away, as indeed they were taken away from the Polish people living in the late 18th and early 18th century.”
Duda also thanked his compatriots for the hospitality and support extended to the Ukrainian nation following the Russian invasion of February 24.
He said: “I thank everyone who helped our Ukrainian neighbours…. Those who welcomed refugees from Ukraine into their homes. Without asking who they are, without asking whether they are rich or poor.”
The president noted that Poland and its people also donated money, supplies and military equipment to the Ukrainian nation.
‘By supporting Ukrainians, Polish people are helping defend Poland’s own independence’
“I thank my compatriots for this - you have shown great class,” Duda said, adding: “such actions help defend Poland’s independence, they help defend our freedom and the freedom of our part of Europe.”
The president said he was “confident that Poland will overcome the current difficult situation,” caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, by “working together” with allies such as Lithuania, whose head of state Gitanas Nausėda was present at the ceremony.
Also in attendance were Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Prime Ministers Mariusz Błaszczak and Piotr Gliński, senior government officials and top lawmakers, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
‘Poland is our ultimate value’
PM Morawiecki later posted an Independence Day message to the nation on social media.
The PM said that thanks to independence, “we can be ourselves, we can enjoy freedom, we can plan the future on our own terms, we can simply be the hosts in our own home.”
Morawiecki added that Poland, “even if it has flaws, is our ultimate value for which it is worthwhile to live and to work.”
Poland regained independence on November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended, after 123 years of partition by Russia, Austria and Prussia.
One of the highlights of this year's festivities will be the opening of a new Mausoleum of the Polish Presidents-in-Exile.
Friday is day 261 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl, wprost.pl