"Poland needs Europe, but Europe also needs Poland". Queen Elizabeth II's historic speech in the Sejm

"In 1940 my father sent a message to your president (Władysław Raczkiewicz - edit.). In it, he said: 'We are proud to have at our side the heroic Polish army, air force and navy, which have covered themselves in glory in the last 12 months'. As our two countries fought together against tyranny, I remember the Polish national anthem being played each week on the BBC, along with those of our other gallant allies. And we will never forget in my country the courage of the Polish pilots, part of 'the few' to whom Churchill rightly said so much was owed," Queen Elizabeth II said in her speech before the Polish parliament in March of 1996.

"If Poland had not stood with us in those days, who knows, the candle of freedom might have been snuffed out," she added.

The Queen also said that the Poles who had stayed in Britain after the war, "founded a community which has given much" the national life of the British. "But their freedom was not reflected in their own country. The scars and divisions which were left by war caused injustice and bitterness, some directed at friends and erstwhile allies."

"Last year, as we celebrated the anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe, we knew only too well that for Poland the fruits of victory were postponed. So we rejoiced all the more that Poland's recovery of full sovereignty and at your decision to seek membership in European and Western institutions," Queen Elizabeth said.

"We strongly support the enlargement of the European Union and NATO. We are in sympathy with your aim to join these bodies and we are determined that that aim cannot be subject to a veto from any other country. Poland needs Europe, but Europe also needs Poland," the British monarch underscored.

Queen Elizabeth also said that "Poland and Britain were far ahead of their time in creating free and effective parliamentary institutions - each at either end of Europe".

"And both parliaments have seen dramatic moments in the history of their nations, none more notable than the Great Sejm which created the Constitution of 1791, that model of enlightened thought," the Queen added.

Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and a towering presence on the world stage for 70 years, died on Thursday at her home in Scotland aged 96, drawing an outpouring of tributes from at home and around the globe.