Financiarul

Agerpres correspondent Tudor Martalogu reports: Victor Bostinaru, co-president of the delegation of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, in the European Parliament, and Boguslaw Liberdzki, president of the Polish delegation from the group of the Progressive Alliance of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), organized on Thursday, in Brussels, a conference on “Solidarity in Europe: Romania and Poland in 1939.”

“The conference intends to discuss a very important period in the history of Europe, placing emphasis on the example of solidarity between Romania and Poland at the beginning of World War II.

So, on Sept 1, 1939, after the invasion of Poland by the German Army, the Polish Government, the officers of the Polish Army as well as a significant number of Polish refugees were hosted by the Romanian state.

Also, the Polish treasury was kept in this period also with the support of the Romanian government. The return of Romania to the European history comes only to re-assert the place our country had and still has for the entire European building.

Solidarity in harsh times, non-conditional and directed to your fellows is enough to offer us a lesson even though also in these moments, when the debate on merits of those events risks to become obsolate,” said Bostinaru.

For his part, Boguslav Liberadzki remarked, for Agerpres, that the support granted by Romania to the Polish people, in a very difficult period has proven to be essential. “In Sept 1939, when Poland was invaded by the German troops, who helped us ?. It was not France or Britain, although we have an agreement for support and assistance with them.

Romania, in exchange, with which we did not have such an agreement, and which was itself threatened both by the Russians and by the Germans, helped us. Due to this behaviour, we could save our leaders, tens of thousands of troupers and the treasury. That has been a great proof of solidarity.

We must always remember, both Poles and Romanians, those deeds from a very difficult period of our history, said Liberadzki.

The neutrality of Romania declared in 1939 has has been anti war, for that matter, never questioning the support of occupied Poland. The Romanian government uuofficially sought and as much as it could, despite the vehement protests of the Reich, to grant the necessary moral and material support to the Polish people.

In the support of the solidarity between the two countries comes the archive documents, that will be presented during the debates. The conference enjoys the presence of personalities from the academic environment, historians, experts and euro-deputies who will debate the events of September 1939, from a military, political and diplomatic point of view.

So, at the conference present are Martin Schultz, the leader of the S&D group Adrian Severin, vice-president of S&D, prof. Bogdan Grzelonskitski at Warsaw School of Economics, prof. Dumitru Preda, from Ovidius University of Constanta, south-east, Cristian Paunescu – the National Bank of Romania, and professor Luc De Vos – Leuven Military School.