Polish president to attend Peres’s funeral
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
28.09.2016 15:33
Polish President Andrzej Duda will be among leaders taking part in the funeral of Israel’s former President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday.
President Andrzej Duda. Photo: KPRP
The news was announced by Krzysztof Szczerski, a senior presidential aide.
Peres, who died in hospital on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a stroke, was born Szymon Perski in the Polish village of Wiszniew, now in Belarus.
He was one of the most influential figures in Israeli politics for decades, serving as president (2007-2014), prime minister, a member of the cabinet and parliament.
In a tribute to Peres, former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski described him as “one of the most outstanding political figures of the 20th century, an icon of the state of Israel, a man of great ideas and of wisdom.”
Kwaśniewski recalled his close contacts with Peres during his presidency (1995-2005) and in later years.
Peres was a great friend of Poland and his support was crucial for the construction of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which opened in Warsaw in 2014, Kwaśniewski wrote. (mk/pk)