Prime Minister Viktor Orban awarded Senior Speaker of the Sejm Kornel Morawiecki with the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary at the Hungarian Embassy in Warsaw on Sunday.

The ceremony was attended by, among others, Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski, Speaker of the Senate Stanisław Karczewski, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki, and Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.

During his speech, Prime Minister Orban recalled the senior marshal's opposition activities from the time of the Solidarity Fighters and said that Kornel Morawiecki's steadfast attitude was an inspiration for many Hungarians. - When we founded our organization we had to decide how radical we would be and we decided that we would be radical like you - said the head of the Hungarian government.

Marshal Senior emphasized the uniqueness of Polish-Hungarian ties and solidarity between the two nations. -In a year's time we will celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Warsaw, during which we defeated Bolshevik Russia, a Polish soldier was shooting with Hungarian ammunition sent from Hungary. And in 1956 we were sending Polish blood to fighting Budapest - such are our ties - stressed Kornel Morawiecki.

The Hungarian Order of Merit (Hungarian: Magyar Érdemrend) is the second most senior state decoration of Hungary. The Order is divided into five classes and is awarded in two varieties: civilian and military. It was established in 1922 as the Cross of Merit. Among the Poles decorated with the Order of Merit are President Ignacy Moscicki, Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Minister Jozef Beck, General Boleslaw Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski, Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski, Speaker of the Senate Stanislaw Karczewski, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Beata Mazurek, Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and director Andrzej Wajda.

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Photo: Łukasz Błasikiewicz/ KS