Due to possible trade union disruption in Gdansk the main celebrations to mark the end of communism in Poland will now take place in Krakow on June 4, and not Gdansk, as was originally planned.
“I do not want the summit to be overshadowed by riots,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk and added that he cannot guarantee that foreign guests will be safe in Gdansk.
Trade unionists from the Gdansk shipyard threatened to disrupt the celebrations after the European Union intervened in the privatization and restructuring of the historic shipyards, which could mean thousands of workers being made redundant.
The Gdansk yard is where the Solidarity movement was born, after the legendary strikes of 1980.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has now confirmed that the meeting of the representatives of four Central European states, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - which will form the centre piece of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism - will now take place in Krakow, far from the Baltic shipyard.
The decision has already been criticized by opposition politicians. “Poland’s Prime Minister should not be a coward and let himself be blackmailed,” commented Andrzej Celinski from the Social Democracy of Poland - New Left party. (mg/pg)