Bertalan Havasi, the Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister, informed Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has offered his condolences to Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, following the death of former Polish prime minister Jan Olszewski.

Jan Olszewski passed away in Warsaw at the age of eighty-eight. On Tuesday the Office of the Prime Minister of Poland announced that the country will commence two days of national mourning from midnight on Thursday.

In his letter of condolence, Mr. Orbán wrote that he was saddened to learn of the death of the former prime minister of Poland, who was one of the leading figures in the downfall of communism in Poland and in the Solidarity Movement.

In his letter Mr. Orbán wrote: “As a young man fighting to bring down communism, I was full of admiration for the courage and steadfast resolve of Mr. Olszewski, who fought as a lawyer back then; and I equally admired his loyalty to his country.” He added that “in the year that we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our nations regaining their freedom, we have lost one of Central Europe’s leading freedom fighters.”

“His spirit will continue to live with us because, following in his footsteps, we the voices of Central Europe must once more remind the countries of Western Europe that independence is a treasure worth fighting for.”

Jan Olszewski will be buried on Saturday in Warsaw’s Powązki Military Cemetery. On Friday morning his coffin will lie in state in the grand hall of the office of the Prime Minister of Poland. In the evening Mass will be celebrated in his memory, followed by a procession in the centre of the city.

(MTI)