Andrzej Duda made the statement during the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Polish president told a news briefing: “In Africa, in the Middle East, Russian propaganda is unfortunately very effective. And telling the world the truth about the Russian aggression against Ukraine is an extremely important mission for us, as a country close to the conflict, as a neighbour.”
‘Russia aims to subjugate a sovereign country’
Duda said, as quoted by Polish state news agency PAP: “As Ukraine’s neighbours we can talk about the millions of refugees from Ukraine who are coming to our country and travelling further, to other parts of the world. We can talk about the tragedy that the Ukrainian nation is experiencing and we do talk about it here.”
He added that the Polish delegation was briefing the participants of the LDC5 Conference on “who is really the aggressor there, who destroyed the life of the Ukrainian nation, who is devastating settlements.”
“We are saying it loud and clear,” Duda told reporters.
He declared: “We are telling the truth, pointing out that it’s simply Russia’s neo-colonial, imperial policy. We stress that it’s an empire that persecutes people, that kidnaps children and takes them to Russia, that wants to plunder Ukraine, that wants to subjugate a free, sovereign country and nation.”
Poland 'viewed positively' in Africa, 'has no colonial past'
The president stressed that Poland is “viewed positively” by African countries because “it has no colonial past.”
He added that many people in Africa “know our history” and that “we can discuss it with our heads held high, because we are also a nation that endured exploitation, cruel treatment and the loss of independence, and we survived without our own state, suffering exploitation and oppression.”
Duda stated: “Today, we are showcasing our development here. We are saying that over the past 30 years, we have made big progress and we are declaring that we are willing to share our experiences with the world’s least developed countries.”
‘Enormous potential for cooperation’
The president announced that during a panel discussion on agricultural policy on Monday, he would declare Poland’s readiness to "share its lessons from developing the farming sector."
He told reporters: “We have enormous potential for cooperation with the African countries and we should realise this potential, also in the field of agriculture.”
Duda said that, on the sidelines of the Doha conference, Poland was being "mentioned among wealthy countries, those situated in the prosperous part of the world.”
He stressed: “Poland is a country that has changed significantly over the past 30 years, making long strides on the path of development.”
The president added that talks at the LDC5 conference also focused on the various tragedies affecting the poorest countries, such as droughts, famines and a recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Following Monday’s discussions, Duda was set to travel to the United Arab Emirates.
He was expected to meet his counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss alternative sources of energy, among other topics, reporters were told.
During the visit, Poland and the United Arab Emirates "will sign agreements on bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and digitisation," the Polish president said, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
Monday is day 376 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl