President marks 30th anniversary of talks that ended communism

President Andrzej Duda participated in the international conference 'On the Downfall of Communism. 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe' on Thursday in Warsaw, organised on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Polish Round Table Talks.

President Duda expressed gratitude to the people who fought for the freedom, independence and sovereignty of Poland, which Poles enjoy today.

He underscored that a consequence of the events of 1989 was Poland's subsequent accession to the EU and NATO and the fact that "we became members of the Western community, not only in a cultural and identity sense, but also in a political one."

The head of state noted that the Polish Round Table Talks and its effects have been variously assessed, and that it is easy for the people who did not have to make decisions, then, to evaluate the talks.

"I can allow myself to assess these events from a Polish point of view (...) I can say one thing: I felt immense and unlimited joy, great excitement, and had a wonderful feeling that we had moved closer to something which we dreamed of: towards freedom, in which we could live and progress," President Duda added.