2019-08-25 17:13 update: 2019-08-28, 18:03
Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka
At ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II on September 1, public speeches will be given on Warsaw's Pilsudskiego Square by the presidents of Poland, Germany and the USA, the head of the Polish President's Office has announced.
Krzysztof Szczerski went on to say September 2 would be an official visit day of US President Donald Trump.
At a Sunday press briefing at the Presidential Palace, Szczerski said the main international commemorations of the anniversary would take place in Warsaw. Ceremonies will start at 12 pm at Pilsudskiego Square, where 40 foreign delegations are expected, involving around 250 guests from around the world including presidents, prime ministers, parliamentary speakers, foreign ministers, defence ministers and special envoys sent by the royal houses of Europe. Presidents alone will number about 20.
During the main event on Pilsudskiego Square, speeches will be given by Polish President Andrzej Duda and his German and American counterparts, Frank Walter Steinmeier and Donald Trump, whose guiding motif will be "memory and warning."
Earlier in the morning, President Duda and Frank Walter Steinmeier will be in the central town of Wielun, the first town in mainland Poland to be struck by German forces during the war, where they will pay tribute to civilian victims. Szczerski said both the Polish and German presidents very much wanted to "emphasise the civilian victims" of the war.
The anniversary commemorations will also be an occasion for two bilateral state visits, Szczerski added. On August 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will pay his first official visit to Poland and also attend the commemorations. An official bilateral visit will also be paid by US President Donald Trump, who will travel to Warsaw on August 31 and leave the capital in the early afternoon of September 2.
On September 2, Presidents Duda and Trump will hold one-on-one talks at the Presidential Palace with the two heads of states' delegations also meeting. After lunch, the two presidents will meet journalists and Trump will then meet Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and government officials. Trump will be accompanied by his wife, Melania, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (PAP)
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