2019 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord
HISTORY
Capital of Pomerania and the country’s main port, the Polish city of Gdańsk is currently the lead city of a metropolitan area, together with the towns of Gdynia and Sopot, that exceeds one million inhabitants. With a history marked by its strategic location on the Baltic coast and having belonged to different entities and states, Gdańsk –then known by its German name, Danzig– became a Free City under the auspices of the League of Nations as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, which brought World War I to an end. With a large German population, Gdańsk was the scene of what is considered the first battle of World War II, when, on 1st September 1939, the Nazi army invaded Poland via the Westerplatte Peninsula, facing the city, where a scant garrison of Polish soldiers managed to heroically hold out for a week in inferior conditions. Following the Allied victory, an almost entirely destroyed Gdańsk was annexed by Poland, which led to the expulsion of its German inhabitants. Decades later, the first pockets of opposition to the communist regime arose in the city, its shipyards giving rise to the Solidarity trade-union movement, which was to become a leading force in the 1989 overthrow of the regime.
In 1990, the leader of Solidarity, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Lech Walesa, became the country’s first democratically elected president since 1939. Having become the symbol of resistance against Nazism and the fight for the recovery of freedom in Europe, the 1st September, the city of Gdańsk commemorated the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II in Westerplatte, under the motto “United above and beyond differences, to pay tribute to victims and heroes and bear witness to the scale of human tragedy, heroism and sacrifice”. Considered a welcoming, generous city, since the restoration of democracy in Poland thirty years ago Gdańsk has stood out for its dynamic economy, openness, civic cohesion and tolerant nature, especially through programmes aimed at the integration of immigrants and defence of the LGBT community. Of its almost half a million inhabitants, more than 20,000 are foreigners, most of them refugees from countries of the former USSR, as well as from other areas of conflict, such as Rwanda and Syria.
In 2016, the City Council of Gdańsk published a document entitled “Model of Integration of Immigrants”, which develops a management system in public institutions and social organizations in the city to facilitate the integration of refugees and immigrants in areas such as education, culture, social care, housing, employment and health. Furthermore, an advisory council was formed, composed of twelve representatives of immigrants and two refugees, which is responsible for transmitting the needs and concerns of this group of people to the local authorities. In 2018, Gdańsk approved a “Model for Equal Treatment” to improve the conditions of the most vulnerable social groups. The momentum behind the social policies developed by Gdańsk is attributed to its mayor over the last two decades, Paweł Adamowicz, who occupied this office from 1998 until his stabbing and subsequent death during a public event held in January of this year. The current mayor of Gdańsk, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, replaced Adamowicz in office until the early elections held last March, in which she was elected with 82% of the vote.
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MILESTONES OF THE 20th AND 21st CENTURIES
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28th June 1919
28th June 1919
Creation of the Free City of Gdańsk in the Treaty of Versailles
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1st September 1939
1st September 1939
The Nazi army invades Poland through the Westerplatte Peninsula, facing the city of Gdańsk.
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March 1945
March 1945
The city is destroyed by the Second Belarusian Front.
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December 1970
December 1970
Workers in large cities in northern Poland demonstrate due to the rising prices of basic necessities, suffering violent repression.
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August 1980
August 1980
Known as the “Gdańsk August”, a month triggering the breakdown of the post-WW2 order with the signing of the Gdańsk Shipyard Agreements.
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1989
1989
The Solidarity trade union takes the lead in the overthrow of the Communist regime.
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1990
1990
Lech Walesa becomes the first democratically-elected president of Poland since 1939.
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1997
1997
Gdańsk celebrates 1000 years since its foundation and venerates its patron Saint Adalbert, thanks to whom the name of the city begins to be mentioned in different writings.
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2016
2016
Gdańsk City Council publishes a document entitled “Model of Integration of Immigrants”.
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2018
2018
Gdańsk approved a “Model for Equal Treatment” to improve the conditions of the most vulnerable social groups.
GDAŃSK IN FIGURES
466,631
as of 31th December 2018
3.70points*
*Note: 1 being the lowest score and 6, the highest
4.13points*
*Note: 1 being the lowest score and 6, the highest
62,372
STUDENTS IN GDAŃSK IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018
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6,500Emigrants
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4,532Immigrants
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1,968Net migration
Note: data as of 2018
175.7MILLION PASSENGERS
USED PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN 2018
3.1MILLION TOURISTS
VISITED GDAŃSK IN 2018
1.3
MILLION VISITORS TO MUSEUMS
28%
OF PROTECTED AREAS IN THE GDAŃSK AREA IN 2018
EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CENTRE
Located in the city of Gdańsk, the European Solidarity Centre opened its doors in 2008 to commemorate, maintain and popularize the ideals of a democratic, open and supportive society and a culture of dialogue. It aims to inspire cultural, civic, trade union, local, national and European initiatives, applying a universal approach. It is a source of inspiration and hope for all those people who are deprived of human rights around the world, sharing the achievements of the peaceful struggle for freedom, justice and democracy. The European Solidarity Centre is one of the driving forces in the construction of a European identity and a new international order.
Watch video: minutes of the jury.
At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2019 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord, composed of Íñigo Abarca Junco, Fernando de Almansa Moreno-Barreda, Viscount of Castillo de Almansa, Antonio Basagoiti García-Tuñón, Antonio Brufau Niubó, José Antonio Caicoya Cores, Sol Daurella Comadrán, Isidro Fainé Casas, Ana Isabel Fernández Álvarez, Vicente Fernández Guerrero, José Antonio Fernández Rivero, Luis Fernández-Vega Sanz, Ignacio Garralda Ruiz de Velasco, Jaime Gorbeña Yllera, Alicia Koplowitz Romero de Juséu, Marchioness of Bellavista, Wenceslao López Martínez, Laureano Lourido Artime, César José Menéndez Claverol, Adolfo Menéndez Menéndez, José Oliu i Creus, María del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, Mariano Puig Planas, Gregorio Rabanal Martínez, Helena Revoredo de Gut, Gonzalo Sánchez Martínez, Pedro Sanjurjo González, Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez, Gonzalo Urquijo Fernández de Araoz, Darío Vicario Ramírez, Manuel Villa-Cellino Torre,
Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, Marquis of Villar Mir, Ignacio Ybarra Aznar, chaired by Javier Fernández Fernández and with Pedro de Silva Cienfuegos-Jovellanos acting as secretary, has decided to bestow the 2019 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord on the Polish city of Gdańsk, both a historic and present-day symbol of the daring fight for civil liberties at a crucial spot where the spirit of Europe manages to be reborn time and again against intolerance and oppression. The past and the present of the city of Gdańsk are an example of sensitivity towards suffering, solidarity, the defence of freedom and human rights and extraordinary generosity.
Oviedo, 13th June 2019
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