On December 18, Speaker of the Polish Sejm Marek Kuchcinski paid his first foreign visit. He went to Budapest, together with the Polish delegation, at the invitation of the Speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér.

The 60th anniversary of Poznan June and the 1956 uprising in Hungary, the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland and the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Kostiuchnowka in Volhynia, where Polish and Hungarian soldiers fought together against the Russian army, are all occasions for joint actions of the Polish Sejm and the Hungarian National Assembly. These are extremely important events, during which Poles and Hungarians supported each other and confirmed the solidarity of both nations.

During the meeting with the Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér the topics of cooperation in the region, on the European Union arena and NATO were discussed. The meeting was also attended by the chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee, Piotr Naimski, the head of the Hungarian-Polish Friendship Group, Szilárd Németh, and the spokesman for the Polish minority in the Hungarian Parliament, Lászlóné Csúcs. To the Speaker, Marshal Kuchciński submitted a draft resolution establishing 2016 as the Year of Polish-Hungarian Solidarity. The politicians agreed that friendship groups should play a special role: those operating in the elected 2014 National Assembly and the Polish-Hungarian Parliamentary Group, which - following the example of all Sejm terms since 1991 - will be established at the beginning of next year.

The Marshal said that such ceremonies are an event of great importance both for the person honored with the award and for those who present it. The laureates and recipients of the awards are outstanding, committed people whose activities create political, economic, social and scientific life in their communities, on a national scale or in contacts with other countries. All these criteria are fulfilled and all these qualities are personified by the Vice-President of the Hungarian National Assembly Janos Latorcai, whom the Republic of Poland awarded with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit for his great work on strengthening Polish-Hungarian relations, unprecedented even on the international scale - said the Marshal. He added that our relations are extremely strong, based on a community of values, the overriding of which was the love of freedom.

At the end of his visit to Budapest the Marshal laid a wreath at the Katyn Martyrs' Monument and met with the Hungarian Polish community.

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