Andrzej Duda made the remark as he granted awards to Mongolian citizens for their services to Polish-Mongolian relations, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
The ceremony took place at the Chinggis Khan Museum in Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday, the last day of the Polish head of state’s three-day visit to Mongolia, according to officials.
Duda told the audience: “Today’s ceremony is the best proof that relations between Poland and Mongolia, including people-to-people relations, endure regardless of whether there are diplomatic missions or not. And that’s a very good thing.”
The Polish president said he hoped “the newly opened Polish embassy and the soon-to-be-launched Polish consulate will help forge closer ties between Poland and Mongolia.”
Duda handed awards to members of Mongolia’s science, culture and business communities who have helped build relations with Poland, including Erdenetsogt Olonbayar, Col. Azzaya Ganbold, Gen. Boldbaatar Zagdsuren and Dagva Rentsendagva, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The Polish president, who was accompanied by First Lady Agata Kornhauser Duda, also met with Mongolian citizens who had graduated from Polish universities.
Earlier in the day, Duda received an honorary doctorate in law from the State Mongolian University.
Russia wants 'rule of might, not 'rule of law’
In his acceptance speech, the Polish president said that the honorary doctorate was “as much an honour as an obligation.”
He added that international law was being “brutally violated” by Russia, "a neighbour of both Poland and Mongolia" that “seeks to revive its empire.”
Duda stated: “Through its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, Moscow has sought to destroy the whole law-based international order.”
He told the ceremony that Russia sought to “restore a world based on the rule of might, rather than the rule of law.”
The Polish president said that “Poland and Mongolia know perfectly well from their history” that such a world “is based on occupation, extermination and violence.”
He urged: “And so we must seek to prevent its return, at all cost.”
Mongolia could 'help bring Russian war criminals to justice’
According to Duda, it is “vital” that Russia’s actions “are met with the appropriate response from the international community,” especially the United Nations, and that the Kremlin regime “begins to feel directly the consequences of its deeds.”
He said: “I am convinced that Mongolia can make a significant contribution to the efforts of the international community to safeguard international law and help bring Russian war criminals to justice.”
Duda also told the gathering: “As the Polish president, I can assure you that few nations understand Mongolians as well as we, the Polish people, do. Just as you, we have been situated between two dominant neighbours for centuries.”
The Polish president added: "In such a situation, it is so important to build broad alliances. Mongolia realises this and has been forging ties with its ‘third neighbours’ for years.”
He further stated: “And so I would like to invite you to join the great international coalition of the free world that is currently waging a serious fight with dictatorship and with the violation of international law.”
Wednesday is day 427 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl