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Ukraine, Baltics, Poland leaders meet on Polish holiday

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Sunday, May 2, 2021 11:21 PM

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The presidents of Ukraine, the Baltic nations and Poland are meeting in Warsaw Monday to mark the 230th anniversary of Poland’s constitution, Europe’s first such democratic document.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to hold talks with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, at a time of intensified conflict with Russia and tensions in eastern Ukraine.

Also attending the Constitution Day ceremonies are the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, countries on the European Union’s border with Russia and Belarus. They are scheduled to hold a televised debate.

Fighting the pandemic is also among the topics to be discussed.

The celebrations began with Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda addressing a remote session of the parliaments of Poland and Lithuania, neighboring nations that were one state at the time of the 18th-century constitution.

Poland’s 1791 Constitution was intended to strengthen its political system and rule of law and protect it against aggression from neighboring powers, including Russia.

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