President Komorowski awards Chief Mufti Tomasz Miskiewicz; photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk

Marking the 85th anniversary of the Muslim Religious Association in Poland, President Komorowski has decorated prominent representatives of the community.

Tatars have lived on the territory of the old Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania for many centuries. A community of approximately 4000 still endures in a cluster of villages in eastern Poland.

Amongst those honoured today were the Chief Mufti of Poland, Tomasz Miskiewicz, and 100 year-old imam Stefan Jasinski.

Komorowski noted today at the ceremony in the Presidential Palace that the decorations recalled a time in Poland of “great tolerance, and an ability to arrange relations between faiths, cultures and languages.”

He continued that the contemplation of such legacies “naturally leads one to consider the future of Poland, and indeed Europe,” which presented the next challenge of integration.

Thanking the president, Chief Mufti Tomasz Miskiewicz, noted the Tatars longstanding loyalty to Poland. Likewise, he expressed his hopes for the realisation of “the Tatar dream” in Warsaw, namely the creation of a new mosque. 

Besides the Polish Tatars, the country hosts about 20,000 muslims from various countries. These are mainly businessmen, students and members of diplomatic corps. (nh)