Soldiers in Bolesławiec Refused to Accept the Polish Constitution. They Were Supposed to Call It “Kwaśniewski’s”

Robert Hojda of Tour de Konstytucja described the bizarre situation that occurred in Bolesławiec.

During the visit by activists promoting the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Danuta Przywara approached the young male and female soldiers who were walking through Bolesławiec’s market square. She wanted to give them a copy of the Constitution. The soldiers reportedly refused to accept it, saying that it was Aleksander Kwaśniewski’s constitution (implicitly, a communist one).

A young man from the group later denied in a conversation with our journalist that such an incident had taken place. Meanwhile, our camera recorded the situation. It shows Danuta Przywara approaching the soldiers with the Constitution in her hand, talking to them for a moment, then walking away with the document and raising her hands in a gesture of disappointment.

“A group of young people in uniform came over. They smiled at us and listened to the guide and our songs, which we always play before the Tour de Konstytucja stop,” Danuta Przywara explains Danuta Przywara. “So many wonderful young people, defenders of their homeland. I thought to myself, I’ll give them the Constitution. And I will honestly say that when I heard, ‘This is Kwaśniewski’s constitution’ (read: this is not our constitution), I felt very sad. Because the Constitution of the Republic of Poland is the fundamental law, important to each of us and binding on each of us. It is one of the more beautiful constitutions, which ‘old’ democratic states accepted as a fully valid, democratic document,” Danuta Przywara added.

The activist also explained the principles and message of Tour de Konstytucja.

“We work for Poland and for Poland’s Constitution. We encourage people to vote for Poland; we are completely non-partisan and work to increase voter turnout, while the document we promote is the fundamental law. In addition, I am a member of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland, and throughout the entire underground period I participated in preparing reports on violations of human rights and freedoms in the Polish People’s Republic. In the 1990s, we prepared the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as an idea for supplementing the small constitution. This charter became one of the foundations on which Chapter Two of the current Constitution was formulated. That is why I mention it: I am very attached to its provisions. We used Poland’s international commitments as a model: the UN international covenants and the European Convention on Human Rights. Thanks to this, our Constitution did not require adjustment, for example when we became a member of the European Union. It turned out that we had a Constitution compatible with international standards. I am attached to it, and I do not need to be convinced that the Constitution can be amended. In order to introduce the European arrest warrant, the Constitution had to be amended, but according to specific rules. The Constitution is not changed through ordinary statutes. To make this clear, people with very different political views came from the Helsinki Committee, and for years we were able to cooperate with one another. Anyone interested in the list of donors to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland is invited to visit the Foundation’s website,” added the Polish sociologist and social activist.

The soldiers were from the 43rd Military Economic Division in Świętoszów and came from the Voluntary Basic Military Service of the 23rd Artillery Regiment.

I, a soldier of the Polish Armed Forces, swear to serve the Republic of Poland faithfully, defend its independence and borders. Stand guard over the Constitution, protect the honor of the Polish soldier, defend the military banner. (...)

Fragment of the military oath

Correction, June 26, 2023; 3:11 p.m.

With reference to the article “Soldiers in Bolesławiec Refused to Accept the Polish Constitution,” published on the istotne.pl portal, I hereby inform you that the actual circumstances of the incident differ significantly from those described in the published report.
According to the “Plan for Securing the Free Time of Soldiers in Voluntary Basic Military Service” (DZSW) undergoing training at the 23rd Artillery Regiment, on Sunday, June 25, they toured the city of Bolesławiec with a guide and learned about its history and monuments.
According to the account of the professional soldier supervising the DZSW soldiers participating in the activity, while the guide was discussing the city’s history and monuments, a woman approached the group of soldiers and attempted to hand them materials she had with her, consequently disrupting the established order of the tour.
The guide asked her not to interrupt his activities, and the person supervising the soldiers warned her that they did not have time to listen to her presentation because they had limited time to tour the city.
As the soldier admits, the quoted words were not spoken by him, and the reaction to the attempt to disrupt the activity in progress was in no way intended to show a lack of respect for the most important legal document in the Republic of Poland, namely the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
Moreover, as you surely know, soldiers are apolitical and do not participate in events of a political nature.
In view of the above, I request a correction to the published article.

Unofficial Press Officer of the 23rd Artillery RegimentMaj. Remigiusz Kwieciński