President Zelensky’s speech
to the Polish Parliament
* * *
“When I became the President in 2019, I felt then that we would have to go a long way with Poland because our relations were chilly. As it turned out, I wanted to move away from it quickly, on the way to warmth. I knew we were very close by nature. I remember my first meetings with Andrzej Duda. Everything kept changing from meeting to meeting. The chill disappeared. We understood each other,” said the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, during the Assembly of Deputies and Senators in the Polish Sejm.
“The number 7 is considered lucky – Ukraine has seven neighbors. Does it make us happy? The whole world knows the answer today, and the 78 Ukrainian children who died from Russian rockets know best—the neighbor who brought poverty and war to our land, the neighbor who works without God. When there is someone who beats on you like a brute, you must have someone you can count on, and he will extend a helping hand,” he said.
“In the morning of February 24th, I had no doubts who would be such a person, who would say to me, Brother, you will not be left alone with the enemy. Polish brothers and sisters are with us; I am grateful for that,” he stressed. He also turned to the Belarusians, saying, “we are close to each other. We are neighbors. We should also be brothers with you Belarusians, and of course, we will achieve it,” continued Mr. Zelensky.
“Brothers and sisters, Poles – for a long time, the interested parties tried to convince us that Poles and Ukrainians live differently and far from each other. What were they doing this for? I will recall the words of the late President Lech Kaczyński, who said in Tbilisi in 2008: ‘Today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the day after tomorrow the Baltic States, and then perhaps it will be my country’s turn, Poland.’ On February 24, the terrible tomorrow befell Ukraine, about which President Kaczyński had spoken. Today we are fighting to prevent such a bad time for the Baltic States and Poland. We fight together, and together we can do anything. Poland and Ukraine’s historic mission is to be leaders, together, and get Europe out of this threat. (…) We can do it,” he stressed.
“We remember the terrible tragedy in Smoleńsk in 2010. We remember how the circumstances of this catastrophe were investigated. We know what it meant for you and what the silence meant to you of those who knew everything exactly but still looked at our neighbor,” he pointed out.
“I feel that we have already built an amazing alliance.”
“Brothers and sisters, Poles. I feel that we have already built an extraordinary alliance. Maybe informal for now, but it is an alliance that grows out of reality and is not written on paper. It is an alliance that comes from the warmth of our hearts, not the words of politicians at the summits. And how you welcomed our people whom you saved from evil. More than 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens are with you; they do not feel like they’re abroad. You don’t want anything for it, and you do it out of the goodness of your hearts. I am simply saying – my friend Andrzej, dear Agata, I say that we have already joined together, in line with the words of the great Pole, John Paul II, that we will gain and create freedom together. I am convinced that we will defend freedom with you. I am grateful for the help we have already received from your country, the nation,” he said.
“God willing, and we will win this war, and we will share our victory with you. With our brothers and sisters. This is our greatness, but also your greatness. The fight for our freedom, but also yours. It is a great history of common nations,” he stressed.
“God, please let us win. Long live free Poland! Long live free Ukraine!” he said at the end of his speech.
https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/589489-zelenski-do-polakowpodzielimy-sie-z-wami-naszym-zwyciestwem
