Poland in Malta

This year, we celebrate Easter and the rebirth it brings in the face of war and war crimes still taking place in Ukraine. It is our duty to stay united and keep helping our neighbours until Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is over.

Nobody is born to be self-sufficient and to confine themselves to their own needs. As experience, especially that of emigration, teaches us, autonomy and community-based action are an essential complement to our lives. The reason is that autonomy, also as it applies to the Polish community, entails self-reliance and independent decision-making. It also involves the Polish diaspora’s right to independently settle its own affairs. As a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for cooperating with the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad, I am proud and happy to say that the Polish community living outside the country fully adheres to this principle in practice. The Polish community and Poles abroad demonstrated their energy, commitment and solidarity during the pandemic. More recently, they have consistently and openly stood by Ukraine amid the tragedy of Russian aggression and its lengthening toll of victims.

In the Easter spirit, I would like to encourage you, fellow Poles, to draw even more deeply from the well of strength that community and hope have to offer. My holiday wish is for us to keep our spirits up and continue to put in practice those ideas and values which best serve Poland and the global Polish community, especially when they are reinforced by a sense of identity, tradition and living in truth. May dreams, trust and optimism continue to define our common ends and means as the Polish state and Polish communities abroad together build a modern national community. May this inspiration and hope give us the strength to inculcate and promote our best national qualities and wisdom.

Let us unceasingly strive to revive our faith and commitment to the common good, along with the best interests of our country and the prosperity of Polish community worldwide. That is why the Polish state is extending more financial support to the global community of Poles, investing ever increasing sums to provide greater access to education, culture, infrastructure and the opportunity to live independently.

Apart from the “tasty Easter breakfast and happy Dyngus Day” that Poles traditionally use to greet each other on the holiday, my special wish for all of you is peace, so doubly important today. These wishes come at a specific time and in a particular international situation – one in which an eastern neighbour of Poland is torn apart by war, while another prosecutes and convicts Poles for honestly and courageously standing up for truth and Polishness. Such considerations lead me to put the health, safety and peace of your families foremost. But my greetings would not be complete without one more wish – that of hope. It is the hope that stems from our faith in Jesus Christ and in the durability and strength of our national identity that best helps us live and build for the future. Especially because this is a hope that never disappoints.

Once again, let me wish health, calm and safety to you and your families this Easter, along with a renewal of spirit and strength for the good and prosperity of the Polish community abroad!

Happy Easter!