The agreement between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, eastern Poland, creating a new state with common monarchy, parliament, currency, foreign and defence policy.
“The Union that lasted for more than 200 years was an inspiration for the whole of Europe to integrate and build closer cooperation between states as the best answer to respond to internal and external threats,” Poland’s Andrzej Duda and Lithuania’s Dalia Grybauskaitė said in a joint statement.
The leaders also affirmed that today their nations are “just as ready to stand together against any challenges and to protect the ideals of independence, unity and solidarity.”
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which collapsed in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland, was one of the earliest confederate states in Europe.
At its peak in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1 million square kilometres (400,000 square miles), which made it second largest to Russia on the continent.
(jh/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP