New Nation
On July 1, 1569, during the General Sejm in Lublin, the Kingdom of Poland formed a union with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was created, with one monarch, one parliament and a common foreign policy. For a few months now, Lublin has been preparing for the anniversary celebrations. The Monument of the Union of Lublin and Jan Matejko’s painting Unia Lubelska (The Union of Lublin) have been renovated. The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) invited the Prime Ministers of the member states of the EU and the Presidents of Poland, Lech Kaczyński; Lithuania, outgoing Valdas Adamkus; Latvia, Valdis Zatlers; Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko; Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves and the former President of Belarus, Myechyslau Hryb (Lukashenko’s predecessor).
First Union in Europe
The authorities of Lublin and President Kaczyński also invited José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission. However, he will not come, just like the Prime Ministers and Presidents of Estonia and Latvia. Instead, the former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Stanislau Shushkevich, will be present. Honouring the Presidents with Honorary Degrees of KUL will be the highlight of the day. The absence of Barroso is, paradoxically, quite convenient, as he would be the only one invited and not awarded a degree. A few months ago, KUL wanted to honour him but eventually decided against it. The official reason was that Barroso did not confirm his visit to Lublin, the unofficial reason is, however, his views are incompatible with the Church’s teachings. This concerns the Treaty of Lisbon and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which he approves of. The disputable matter is the lack of “invocatio dei” (reference to God) in the document. Although he was not invited, Lukashenko will appear in Lublin in some sense. The Lithuanian artist, Redas Diržys, has planted beets, carrots and radishes in the centre of Lublin. By July 1, the vegetables are supposed to form a portrait of Lukashenko.
Wyborcza.pl
June 30, 2009 at 11:21 pm |
[...] one of the first (in retrospect) ‘EU’-style unions on the European continent. The Union of Lublin (1st July, 1569) is often seen as a natural predecessor to the Maastricht Treaty (7th February, [...]