August 23 is European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes - originally known as European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, which was established by the European Parliament in 2008 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

76 years ago, on 23 August 1939, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, and Vyacheslav Molotov, People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, both totalitarian powers, signed a non-aggression pact and a secret additional protocol in Moscow.

On this symbolic date President Andrzej Duda paid his first foreign visit. During his visit to Tallinn, he held talks with the President of Estonia, met with Prime Minister Taavi Roivas and Estonian Parliament Speaker Eikki Nestor. The Presidents of Poland and Estonia laid wreaths at the Monument of Freedom in Tallinn.

The Polish President's speech at the Museum of Occupation focused on two issues: the importance of law for world peace and the importance of Central and Eastern Europe for stability in Europe.

The President of Estonia reminded that on August 23 two totalitarian regimes divided Europe between themselves, which, he stressed, led to terrible crimes. - Poland was the first to lose its freedom, attacked on September 1, 1939 by the Germans, and two and a half weeks later from the East, which people in Europe often forget, he stressed.

Below is the text of the speech given by President Andrzej Duda on Sunday.

(PAP, prezydent.pl)