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Europe in Brussels part 16: Poland

00:46 30/04/2017
Poland's Constitution Day is on 3 May. Two Poles in Brussels tell us about the tradition and how to find a slice of Polish culture in the city

Poland's Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the constitution in 1791. The holiday itself dates back to the early 1900s.

"Our constitution was one of the first in the world, so I think that we can be very proud of that," says Natalia Mosor, director of the Polish Institute in Brussels.

According to official Belgian government statistics, there are approximately 70,000 Poles living in Belgium.

“It’s very diverse because you have Polish people working in European institutions, but there are also some older Polish communities in Belgium, in Liège and Antwerp, from the 1920s and 30s,” Mosor says.

“You have some soldiers that stayed after the second world war - in Flanders there are numerous towns including Ghent where Polish soldiers stayed.” Then, of course, there was the new wave of Polish arrivals when the country joined the EU in 2004, "looking for a better life, new opportunities".

You can find plenty of Polish culture throughout the city. “There are Polish musicians presenting themselves in Belgium in various locations, but also you have those who live here and decide to have some sort of cultural activity, so galleries for instance," says Mosor. There are also Polish restaurants, where you can find traditional pierogi (Polish dumplings).

The Constitution Day is a major holiday in Poland. Marta Budzynska, a Polish expat, has lived in Brussels for four years. She says that it’s common for Polish people to focus heavily on their history, so this important holiday is widely recognised. "I try to talk to my kids about Poland and Polish history," she says.

Budzynska says she’s been away from Poland for so long that she doesn’t long for her country's culture: “I left Poland 17 years ago, so I think I passed the phase of missing my food and that culture. It’s people I miss.”

She says of Brussels: "It's a small town, it has this human touch still - for us it's perfect, apart from the weather."

Written by Hannah Haynes, Paul McNally