ANDRZEJ DUDA, President of Poland, said that the Russian Federation’s brutal aggression against Ukraine has brought with it immense global problems, putting the international world order to a test.  Recalling 1939 when, in the wake of the alliance between Hitler and Stalin, Poland lost its independence, was wiped out from the map of the world and subjected to extremely brutal occupation, he said his country understands the tragedy of Ukraine better than any other.  “The logic of conquest, changing borders by force, disregarding the law and denying the Ukrainian people their right to exist must be stopped.  This brutal war must end, and not be converted into a frozen war,” he underscored.

“Today, the victim is Ukraine.  Tomorrow, it could be any one of us, if we do not follow these ironclad rules, if we do not insistently enforce compliance with international law,” he warned, voicing support to the work of the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the Independent International Commission under the UN Human Rights Council to investigate violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the context of Russian aggression.  Poland supports the idea of establishing an ad hoc special tribunal, he added, noting that that Moscow continually tries to shape international public opinion by building a false vision of reality.  He also praised the United States for playing a pivotal role in assuring security in Europe for more than a century.

Given the refugee crisis caused by the war in Syria, Poland’s assistance to Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan will be maintained, he assured.  The situation is most difficult in Africa, where one in five people is suffering from hunger.  “Therefore, in 2022, Poland supported the World Food Programme’s (WFP) activities in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including Lebanon, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Syria,” he said, adding that Warsaw respects “African solutions to African problems”.  Noting that Poland will be a member of the Economic and Social Council for the 2024-2026 period, he said that one of its key priorities on the organ “will be to draw the international community’s attention to the impact of global crises, such as armed conflicts, the energy crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change”.

Describing the decision-making impasse in the Security Council and the situation in which the Russian Federation, a permanent member of that organ, is deliberately violating the Charter of the United Nations, he said that some people ask questions about whether the Organization is needed at all.  “On behalf of Poland, a neighbour of attacked Ukraine, a country that has taken in millions of refugees, I emphatically answer:  Yes,” he said, stressing that the United Nations is very much needed as no better system for international cooperation has been invented.  He also urged for a return to the thinking and actions of the founding fathers of the United Nations, as there will be no lasting peace without cooperation, without solidarity between richer and poorer countries and ultimately without respect for international law.