Daniel Fried honoured with a special medal for helping Poland join NATO in 1999

TVN24 provided live coverage of the award gala held on Sunday (Jan.22) in the Warsaw Rising Museum. The event was hosted by TVN24's Konrad Piasecki, host of "Rozmowa Piaseckiego" and "Kawa na ławę".

The award went to Daniel Fried, U.S. ambassador to Poland in 1997-2000.

Speaking about the laureate, the current Poland's ambassador to the U.S., Marek Magierowski, said that "a conversation with him is a true intellectual feast".

Former Poland's prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, shared his memories of working with Fried. "I welcomed him as a fresh ambassador ... ambassador Fried offered us his friendship, but also a huge work. Someone said friendship is a great gift, but a huge work too. In that regard, ambassador Daniel Fried has passed the test for our country with 100%" - he said.

In the laudatory speech, former Poland's ambassador to the USA, Jerzy Koźmiński called Fried "a special figure in Polish-American relations".

The current U.S. ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, said that Fried embodied all the values the Medal represented, and that he could not think of a better recipient than him.

After accepting the award, Daniel Fried said the following words in a tweet: "Today in Warsaw, I was honored to receive the Medal of the Courier from Warsaw, Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, WWII Polish resistance soldier; fighter for a free, democratic, and secure Poland; advisor to US administrations; and my friend".

"Jan Nowak believed that Poland could be free at a time when few believed it possible. But he was right. I learned much from his combination of principle and practicality," Fried added.

Having served as US ambassador to Poland from 1997 to 2000, Daniel Fried was one of the architects of Poland’s entry to NATO in 1999.