On Wednesday, May the 18th , at the Polish War Cemetery in Monte Cassino, with the participation of representatives of the state authorities of the Republic of Poland and veterans of the 2nd Polish Corps, the central ceremonies were held on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino.

The main point of the celebration was the Holy Mass for the Homeland and the soldiers fighting at Monte Cassino and their families. During the ceremony, the Appeal of the Fallen was read out.

During the ceremony, the head of the Ministry of National Defence referred to the crimes committed today by the Russians in Ukraine and the crimes committed by the Soviets.

"Red Russia and Putin's Russia do the same and commit war crimes. We know the images from Bucza very well from the many crimes committed on the Polish nation by Soviet executioners. Everything that we can observe in Ukraine has already been there, we experienced it all during the Second World War"

- he pointed out.

Minister Blaszczak presented departmental medals and commemorative plates to the veterans of the 2nd Polish Corps.

In the morning, Minister Błaszczak attended the prayer at the tomb of St. John Paul II in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican on the 102nd Birthday of the late The Polish Pope.

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During his stay in Rome, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak met with the Italian Minister of Defence, Lorenzo Guerini.
The heads of the Polish and Italian defence ministries discussed the current security situation in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the issue of further assistance to this country. The ministers also discussed bilateral military relations with particular emphasis on industrial cooperation.

“Italians support Ukraine and this support is measurable. These are not just declarations. The Italians are also in favour of Ukraine joining the European Union at some time, I hope it will be relatively close. Today, the most important thing is war, the most important thing is deterrence, the most important thing is to support Ukraine, so that the Ukrainians can fight off Russia's attacks, so that they can resist the invasion"

- said Minister Mariusz Błaszczak after the meeting with the Italian Minister of Defence.

The topics also included issues related to the agenda of the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid.

“Our relationship is very close. We are very happy that we can cooperate in the field of the arms industry. PZL Świdnik is owned by the Italian company Leonardo. We are working on replacing the helicopter fleet in the Polish Army and I also talked about this with my Italian counterpart"

- said the head of the Ministry of National Defence after the meeting in Rome.

The ministers also discussed the military's involvement in foreign missions.

“Italians are also active in countries located on NATO's Eastern Flank. We, in turn, support the southern flank through the PMC Irini mission - a military operation of the European Union (EUNAVFOR MED IRINI), but we are also active within the NATO mission"

- Minister M. Błaszczak noted.

GALLERY - >> 78th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino

GALLERY - >> Visit of the head of the Ministry of National Defence in Italy

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The Battle of Monte Cassino fought by the Allied forces with Germany in 1944 is also called the "Battle of Rome", because the victory opened the way to the Italian capital. After nearly five months of fighting, on May 18, 1944, the Poles took the ruins of the monastery. At the turn of 1944 and 1945, a Polish military cemetery was established on the slopes of Monte Cassino, which is one of the most important places of national remembrance. 1,072 Polish soldiers are buried there. General Władysław Anders, who commanded the conquest of the monastery by the 2nd Polish Corps (General Anderas died in London in 1970), was also buried there. On the wall around the cemetery there is the sentence: "Passers-by, tell Poland that we have fallen faithful in its service".