The award was presented at a ceremony to mark 30 years since the establishment of a governmental foundation that helps Poles living in former Soviet countries, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Held at Warsaw’s Belweder Palace on Wednesday, the awards ceremony was hosted by President Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.
The Foundation for Aid to Poles in the East hands out awards in four categories: local Polish campaigners; journalists; activists from the fields of business, science and culture; and institutional sponsors, according to officials.
Ostas, a journalist with Polish Radio’s External Service, also known as Radio Poland, received her statuette from the presidential couple in recognition of her work “to promote Polish culture and strengthen Polish media organisations in the East,” reporters were told.
Ostas said that “Radio Poland has been working with the Foundation for Aid to Poles in the East since the foundation’s inception” three decades ago.
30 years of helping 'Poles in the East'
Duda paid tribute to the Foundation for Aid to Poles in the East, saying it “connects our compatriots living abroad with the homeland.”
He added: “It has been a great success. There are numerous centres of Polish life around the world.”
Meanwhile, the first lady thanked the foundation's staff for their hard work. Kornhauser-Duda also praised the foundation for its activities in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IAR news agency reported.
Established in 1992, the Foundation for Aid to Poles in the East provides support and assistance to Poles living in former Soviet republics and countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc, officials told reporters.
Wednesday was day 294 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio.pl/polskieradio.pl, prezydent.pl