His Holiness Receives Honourary Citizenship of Wroclaw, Meets Polish PresidentThursday, 11 December 2008, 9:37 a.m.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama (R) receiving the honourary citizenship from the Chairperson of the City Council with Mayor Rafat Dutkiewicz standing behind His Holiness. (photo: Bartosz Sadowski)
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Warsaw, Poland: The president of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, strongly backed His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s effort to bring genuine autonomy for Tibet and his contributions in the field of spirituality, during a meeting with His Holiness in the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Wednesday.During the meeting, His Holiness expressed his happiness over the spontaneous show of solidarity from the polish people during his visits to Gdansk, Krakow and Wroclaw.His Holiness said he had always admired the Polish people’s spirit of solidarity and how they won their freedom without resorting to violence. Reiterating Tibetan people’s demand for meaningful autonomy with full guarantee to preserve the Tibetan Buddhist culture, His Holiness presented to the president with a copy of the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People”.He said the Tibetan problem has not come about because of any natural disaster or a civil war. He added, half jokingly, that the Tibetan problem has come about because of the entry of a guest without any proper invitation and that once the guest made its presence entrenched, it has chosen to control everything, including Buddhism. The Polish President said that he was aware of the Chinese Constitution and elaborated that the Communism under which the Polish people lived was gentler then the Chinese Communism.
His Holiness addressing the invited dignitaries of honourary citizenship ceremony in the City Hall. (photo: Bartosz Sadowski)
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He also said he admired the contribution that His Holiness has made in the field of spiritualism. He agreed with His Holiness’ remarks that nations should have good relations with China but take a principled stand on matters relating to human rights and democracy. On 6 December during his visit to Gdansk, His Holiness met the Prime Minister of Poland Mr. Donald Tusk. The same evening he was met by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a meeting that received wide international media coverage, thanks largely to the publicity generated by the official Chinese criticisms. Prior to his meeting with the Polish President in the Presidential Palace, His Holiness gave pre-scheduled interviews to a prominent Polish Radio programme, a TV programme on the late Pope John Paul II and a joint interview to a group of reporters from the largest circulation Polish national newspapers. His Holiness was flown this afternoon from Wroclaw to Warsaw in a Polish government plane and on his arrival at the airport was received by a representative of the Speaker of the Senate, a representative of the City of Warsaw and Mrs. Beata Bublewicz, chairperson of the Parliamentary Group for Tibet. On arrival at the hotel, His Holiness was welcomed and greeted by Tibetans and others with khatas and flowers. Prior to his departure to Warsaw, His Holiness participated in an event in Wroclaw City Hall where he was presented the Honourary Citizenship of the City of Wroclaw by the Chairperson of the City Council. The citation of the Honourary Citizenship presented to His Holiness read: “Poland, though it suffered immensely in the past, has never given up its spirit, and the Poles are now living in a free country. Wroclaw is a city of many cultures and religions. In the words of the late Pope John Paul II, Wroclaw is a meeting place, a uniting place. The ideals of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are especially dear to the citizens of Wroclaw. “Civitate Wratislaviensi Donatus Tenzin Gyatso 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is an unmatched role model in propagating the idea of peace, freedom and mutual respect. Therefore, it is a great honour to the City Council of Wroclaw to bestow the title of the Honourary Citizen of Wroclaw on Your Holiness”. The ceremonial programme concluded with His Holiness cutting a huge cake. Dignitaries including, Mayor Rafat Dutkiewicz, City Councillors, and representatives of various religious traditions and civic bodies attended the ceremony.
A crowd gathers outside the Wroclaw City Hall to greet His Holiness the Dalai Lama.(photo: Bartosz Sadowski)
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Outside the City Hall as His Holiness was taken for the City’s official luncheon, hundreds of Wroclawian Poles had gathered to have a glimpse of His Holiness, who jokingly said that although he is now one of them, he is looking forward to coming back again to enjoy all the privileges but not perform any of the duties that citizenship entailed. More people had gathered to see and wave at His Holiness as he came out of the official luncheon, which took place at a venue next to the CityHall. On Thursday, 11 December, His Holiness will meet with the Speaker of the Senate, Speaker of the Sejm (Lower House), members of the foreign affairs committee, members of the Polish Parliamentary Group for Tibet and other MPs. His Holiness will also visit the City Hall to meet the Mayor of Warsaw City, which is organising His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s public talk on “Peace, Compassion and Universal Responsibility”. The Polish media’s extensive coverage of His Holiness’ visit programmes continue and the popular Public Radio 3 will give live broadcast of His Holiness’s public talk on Thursday.–Report issued by the Office of Tibet, London