The Pride of the Republic of Poland.

Byline: Andrzej Sebastian Duda, President of the Republic of Poland

The 230th anniversary of the enactment of the Polish Constitution, the first in Europe, should be an inspiring holiday for the whole of today's Europe - writes Andrzej DUDA Filled with the joy of spring, we are celebrating a great Polish holiday whose origins date back to the 18th century. It marks the anniversary of the Constitution signed on the 3rd of May 1791 also known as the Government Act or the Constitution of 3 May. It was Europe's first and the world's second modern act of this type and a truly momentous piece of legislation. Its adoption by the Great Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth held in Warsaw was a historic breakthrough.

The legacy of the Constitution, the idea of a political system it contains as well as its liberating and democratic message all make an important contribution to European heritage. Indeed, the 230th anniversary of the enactment of the Constitution should be an inspiring holiday for the whole of today's Europe. Great constitutional acts often result from political or cultural crises that require careful reflection on the light and dark sides of the previous course of events. However, it takes great skill to reform wisely rather than destroy everything based on utopian ideas divorced from the realities of history.

A new order cannot be decreed arbitrarily on paper, but must be derived from authentic human experiences, desires and aspirations. One example of a successful combination of visionary outlook and realism is the world's first constitution adopted in the United States of America as a response to the challenges of history. Creators of the Constitution of 3 May of 1791 also grounded their plans for reform in a specific political and social context. The Act they drafted proved to be a well-chosen cure for the ailments of the Republic. Its aim was to strengthen the rights and freedoms of citizens as well as the governability and stability of the state.

It was designed to make that state strong enough to be independent and successfully resist hostile activities of neighbouring powers which sought to dominate the Republic and, eventually, steal its land. It was not by chance that Catherine the Great's Russia and Frederick II's Prussia made efforts to discredit Poles in the eyes of the international community as incapable of self-determination and effective government. The Constitution of 3 May proved the contrary, showing that...