610 years after the battle of Grunwald, this event still serves as one of the most integral parts of the Polish national identity. It was this event which gave rise to nearly 300 golden years for the shared state of Poles, Lithuanians and Ruthenians. The victory of the Polish-Lithuanian army over the Teutonic Order serves as a reminder for the Baltic states that much can be achieved when they cooperate.
Today’s celebrations were attended by the President of Poland Andrzej Duda and his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda, as well as the Prime Ministers of both countries – Mateusz Morawiecki and Saulius Skvernelis. The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, priest Bruno Paltrer was also present.
“I’m very happy to have Mr President and Mr Prime Minister here with us, since it is a symbolic presence. On the 610th anniversary of the battle where we fought side by side, let it be a sign of co-creating the North Atlantic alliance, without the swords but with friendship”, stated president Duda in his speech.
“We are usually talking about learning a lesson when it comes to defeats, but what can we take away from this great victory from today’s context? Building cultural and national identity has always been, and still is, our everyday fight”, said the Lithuanian head of state, Gitanas Nauseda.
“With great happiness, I want to stress today’s shared interests of Poland and Lithuania. I want to stress how aligned our interests are in the EU and our full cooperation in the North Atlantic Alliance. But we are also creating new, modern areas of cooperation, in the Three Seas Initiative, Via Carpathia or the construction of gas connectors which will help Lithuania be more independent from the previous system of energy supply”, added Prime Minister Morawiecki.
“There can be no doubt that Grunwald, which symbolises our unity, remains an important symbol to this day. We are living in a time of complex geopolitical challenges. We are still facing external threats, only their range is larger. Next to military threats, we are facing new issues like information war, breaches of cybersecurity and recently the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, I believe that we will defeat them all together”, commented the Lithuanian PM, Saulius Skvernelis.