Accepting it, Parliament President Roberta Metsola called Karski "a patriot devoted to the independence of Poland and the soul of Europe, who stood up to evil and brandished the light of truth."
He "understood that for courage and goodness to triumph over fear and tyranny we have to stand up for our values and for each other, especially when it is hardest."
She said Parliament carries Karski's vision of a Europe founded on peace and democracy, and on freedom, dignity and solidarity.
Metsola also vowed that the institution would never give up the fight against antisemitism, which she said is on the rise.
Metsola also addressed Andrzej Poczobut, an activist for the Polish minority in Belarus, who attended the ceremony.
She noted that he had spent five years in prison for opposing oppression and had shown that "not even prison walls can silence the truth."
Poczobut read the award’s citation, written by Waldemar Piasecki, head of the Jan Karski Society.
"The European community should feel responsible for the fate of the entire continent, including those countries and nations that are not formally associated with it but are under threat," it read.
It pointed to Ukraine, which it said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to conquer.
The citation also recalled Simone Veil, the Parliament’s first president and an Auschwitz survivor, saying her life showed that "neutrality only ever helps evil, never good."
The 2026 prize was shared with Archbishop Wojciech Polak.
The jury honoured him for promoting a Church close to its followers and focused on helping the poor, the sick and the excluded, without political ambitions.
In a letter read at the ceremony, he said the unity of Europe "is not given once and for all" and requires responsibility and dialogue.
The jury said the Parliament’s award also recognised Poland’s role in European integration.
It highlighted Józef Retinger, a colleague of Karski, who organised the 1948 Congress of Europe in The Hague with 25 countries.
That gathering helped inspire the Council of Europe and, later, the European Parliament.
Karski founded the award in 2000.
It carries no prize money and is meant as a moral distinction.
Past winners include Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, film director Steven Spielberg and former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki.
Metsola has been visiting Poland since Thursday, meeting Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki.
On Friday she addressed the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
(ał)
Source: PAP, IAR