The order from Ukraine for minister Tomasz Siemoniak
Tomasz Siemoniak, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration received today (on February 2nd, 2010) a Ukrainian state award – the 3rd degree order of merit. The Minister was awarded the distinction for the efforts in the area of Polish-Ukrainian relations by President Victor Yushchenko.
The Minister was presented the order by Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Olexander Motsyk, who highlighted that Ukraine had appreciated personal involvement of Minister Tomasz Siemoniak in the activities aimed at strengthening co-operation between Poland and Ukraine. The Ukrainian side especially appreciates the support of the Minister and the government of the Republic of Poland offered to the Ukrainian community in our country and especially their involvement in returning Ukrainian National Home in Przemyśl to the Union of Ukrainians in Poland.
Polish participants in the ceremony included Andrzej Halicki, the Chairman of the Sejm Committee of Foreign Affairs; Małgorzata Chomycz, the vice-governor of the Podkarpackie Province; Sławomir Majman, the president of Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency; and Józef Różański, the director of the Religious Affairs and Ethnic and National Minorities at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration.
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The National Home in Przemyśl was built from contributions of the inhabitants of the city. After the war, in 1958 the facility was taken over by the state and later it was transferred to the commune.
In January 2004, the governor of the Podkarpackie Province approved the takeover of the building by the Przemyśl commune. After the consultations with the Minister of the Interior and Administration, the National Security Office and the governor of the Podkarpackie Province, on September 3rd, 2009, the councillors adopted a resolution in which they decided to transfer the Ukrainian National Home to State Treasury, thanks to which it was possible to return this real property to the Union of Ukrainians in Poland.
The decision of transferring the National Home, which has been so important for the Ukrainian community living in Przemyśl, was a gesture of reconciliation of Polish authorities and a step towards building peaceful future, based on the coexistence of two nationalities and cultures: the Polish and the Ukrainian one.
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