„Food security, Poland’s food self-sufficiency is a huge credit to the toil and work of farmers”, said President Andrzej Duda during the main ceremony of the Presidential Harvest Festival in Warsaw.

The Harvest Festival began with a solemn Mass celebrated at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Joseph in Warsaw. After the celebration, the President and the First Lady presented diplomas to groups from fourteen provinces for their participation in the competition for the most beautiful wreath. Then, accompanied by artists from the ‘Mazowsze’ song and dance ensemble, the Presidential Couple marched in a harvest parade to the courtyard of the Presidential Palace.

In his speech, referring, among other things, to the period of the coronavirus pandemic, the Poland’s president stressed that “together with our farmers and thanks to our farmers, we have survived the difficult moments of recent times”.

Referring to the international situation and the ongoing tensions in the cereal market, Andrzej Duda appealed: “I want to emphasise strongly, and I say this to Polish farmers and Polish society. I ask you not to put the blame for this situation on the citizens of Ukraine, ordinary people, especially those who came to our country to take refuge here from war, who saved themselves by coming to us, and to whom we have provided and are providing assistance”.

He stressed that it is the responsibility of the government to solve this problem at the level of the authorities. The President asserted that he is on the side of the Polish government in the dispute with Ukraine.

“But at the same time, there is an absolute conviction that it is our fundamental duty to protect Polish farmers – their legitimate interests”, he pointed out. „It is a fundamental duty, because we are the Polish authorities, which are supposed, first and foremost, to pursue the interests of the Republic of Poland and Polish society” added President Duda.

The first Presidential Harvest Festival was held in 1927 in Spala with the participation of then President Ignacy Mościcki. The tradition was restored in 2009 by President Lech Kaczyński.

Adrian Andrzejewski