Ronald Reagan Freedom Award ceremony in Washington DC.

Former Solidarity leader and president of Poland has received the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award at a ceremony in Washington DC.

The event was attended by around 500 guests, including a bipartisan Congressional Host Committee; government officials – including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who delivered the keynote address; politicians; members of the diplomatic corps and media.

Nancy Reagan sent congratulations to Mr. Walesa via video message, in which she said that her husband would be very proud to know that he'd received the award.

Lech Walesa, who was honoured by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation for services to spreading freedom around the world, gave a brief speech at the ceremony, where he said that the late US president had, alongside John Paul II and the Solidarity trade union, played a significant role in the toppling of communism in central and eastern Europe.

The event was hosted by Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and Lawrence Kudlow, Host of CNBC’s Kudlow Report.