Euronews meets up with Magdalena Adamowicz, widow of former Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, at the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk.
**Since Gdansk's liberal-minded Mayor Pawel Adamowicz was murdered in January of this year, his widow Magdalena, has vowed to carry on his legacy. Later this year, she is running the EU elections, Euronews' Damon Embling spoke to her.
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Damon Embling, Euronews: "Pawel became a target of hate. How difficult was that for him and the family?"
Magdalena Adamowicz: "It was very difficult for him and we as a family suffered. I have a very strong Catholic faith, it helped me, without this I could not stand it. But Pawel also wrote his last book, Gdansk As A Community, and it was his cradle and he explained that he could not count how many votes he would lose if he did not support minorities, if he will not give his help for migrants or refugees. For him, it was most important to be a human-being than to count on votes."
Damon Embling: "Was there ever a time when Pawel thought of giving up, was there pressure from the family?"
Magdalena Adamowicz: "Yes, especially with my younger daughter, who keep asking, 'father, why can't you be a baker, a shop assistant or just a teacher and be in more time at home.' But then when he had this moment that he wanted to give up and he had this special statement he wanted to show the public, she started to cry and said why. You won't be mayor anymore? Why? Because I am so proud of you. It was not the only reason for deciding to run for mayor, but he was very strong and I asked him, where did you find this power, you know, I always admired him. But now I feel all his power has come to me."
Damon Embling: "Did your husband's killing prompt you to stand in the EU elections and how much does that drive you?"
Magdalena Adamowicz: "I'm doing this because of his death. If he was still alive, I wouldn't stand for this. But at his funeral, there was a strong voice, the Father shouted that we have to stop with the hate speech. We have to stop the hatred. So, then I thought, he speaks to me, who suffered the hate speech, the hatred so much, who lost my lovely husband, I have to fight for that. And my mission is to show people how dangerous it is and how destructive it can be. And I really hope and I really believe that through a change of legislation, through education, through helping the victims of hate speech, we change the world. Imagine there was no hate, this is my motto."