#MAY 3

Polish President Andrzej Duda. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

‘Historical marathon:’ Polish president reflects on first days of May

Polish President Andrzej Duda, in his official address commemorating the 233rd anniversary of Poland’s 1791 May 3 Constitution, emphasized the significance of the first three days of May as “a patriotic-historical marathon.”

Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Lithuanian dignitaries congratulate Poland on May 3 Constitution Day

Lithuanian leaders conveyed their best wishes to Poland on the 233rd anniversary of the May 3 Constitution of 1791, considered Europe’s first modern written constitution.

Polish President Andrzej Duda (2-R), the nominee for Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General of the Polish Army Marek Sokolowski (P), the nominee for Polish Military Representative to the NATO and EU Military Committees, Lieutenant General Slawomir Wojciechowski (2L) and the nominee for Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces, Brigadier General Krzysztof Stańczyk (L).

President Duda appoints new heads of Armed Forces and Territorial Defense Force

President Andrzej Duda has presented nomination documents to the general commander of the Polish Armed Forces and the commander of the Territorial Defense Force.

The painting depicts King Stanislaus Augustus together with members of the Grand Sejm and inhabitants of Warsaw entering St John's Cathedral in order to swear in the new national constitution just after it had been adopted by the Grand Sejm in the Royal Castle visible in the background. Source: National Museum of Poland Catalogue.

Poland marks 233rd anniversary of the constitution of May 3

Friday marks the 233th anniversary of Poland’s May 3 constitution. On this day in 1791, Poland adopted its first constitution, becoming the first country in Europe to do so and the second in the world (following the United States of America). The constitution, adopted during the “Four-Year Sejm” (a parliamentary meeting held from 1788–92) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, regulated relations between state institutions and bestowed rights and obligations upon the country’s citizens.