Poland’s constitution, created on May 3, 1791, was the work of Polish patriots which wanted to renew the commonwealth’s system and strengthen it, President Andrzej Duda said in an address to the nation via video statement on the 229th anniversary of constitution’s creation.
He reminded Poles that although the state constitution was made between conflicts, history had positively evaluated that founding document.
“We should think of this on May 3, as Polish citizens of a Poland which is again independent, sovereign and based on her own constitution which applies to us all,” Duda said.
The president urged people to remember May 3 while commemorating the centenary of Polish independence and Poland’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic.
“That is why in this difficult time we need order and unity, which is protected and secured by our constitution, so that the state can continue to efficiently combat the pandemic by protecting the health and safety of citizens, but also by protecting workplaces and supporting Polish companies,” Duda added.
Prior to his statement on Sunday, Duda also awarded the Polish Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction for civilians, to historian Wojciech Roszkowski and oncologist Andrzej Kułakowski.
The national holiday on May 3 commemorates the enacting of the May 3 constitution in 1791. The document was the first constitution in modern Europe and the second one in the world after the United States.
The holiday marking the creation of the constitution was established in 1919. During the communist era, public commemoration was forbidden and the holiday was reinstated in 1990.
