Leader of the Czechoslovakian opposition and former president Vaclav Havel, Chancellor Angela Merkel and many other international leaders are in Krakow for the 20 year anniversary of the 1989 democratic elections in Poland.
“The anniversary of the elections of 1989 in Poland is also an opportunity to send a sign of solidarity to nations that are still fighting for freedom,” – said former Czech president Vaclav Havel, speaking at Wawel castle, the venue for the celebrations in Krakow, Thursday morning.
According to Havel, it is important to pay attention to the “huge inspiring significance of the Solidarity movement.” “One more time I would like to point out, that what happened in Poland, was a sign that there is not turning back,” he said.
Havel - who led the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 - highlighted that everyone is realizing the great meaning and great weight of the “international solidarity” shown to nations that have experienced totalitarian regimes.
He admitted to asking himself the question, as to what we can do now to keep showing each other this solidarity. “It is our responsibility to hand over our experience and help those who, to this day, are suffering under totalitarian regimes,” declared the former Czech president.
According to Havel, it is our responsibility and task to use such organizations as the European Union, or NATO to show one more time that, “there are nations where political prisoners are found, where people’s rights are stepped on, where people’s freedom is destroyed.” He explained that the nations he has in mind are many, ranging from North Korea, Burma, to Cuba and Iran.
“I think that this anniversary is an opportunity, to send out a sign of solidarity to those nations, who are fighting for liberation. Let this be our input in the testament of the future, in the improvement of our future, of our joint world,” Havel concluded.
A debt of gratitude
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that 4 June is a historic day, a holiday not only for Poland, but for the whole of Europe.”
She pointed out that Germans have a “huge debt of gratitude towards their friends,” in Poland, Hungary, and the former Czechoslovakia.
Merkel said that Germans, particularly from the old communist German Democratic Republic are deeply thankful for the courage of Eastern European nations. The series of events that occurred in Poland influenced events in the GDR, which could not be stopped. The power of democratic opposition was gaining strength and were being increasingly heard, she added.
The German Chancellor pointed out that the events in the other Eastern bloc countries had an “influence in the fall of the regime and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. It is a year of remembrance for us as well,” she added.
“The doors to freedom and democracy were opened by many, in a very courageous manner, and you, Poles, played an incredibly crucial role in this effort. We will be forever grateful to you for that.”
She also pointed out that 4 June marked “extreme sacrifices,” for example the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, when on the night of 3 June – 4 June, Chinese authorities were responsible for 400 – 2000 deaths of protesting students and workers.
“This should encourage us, in offering support for others, who are seeking freedom in the world.”
“Today is a special day, a day of memory for Poland, but also for Germany and me personally,” said Merkel. According to Merkel, 4 June 1989 was a moment of the “definitive victory of democracy in Poland, and the whole of Eastern Europe. (mnk/pg)