Lech Wałęsa will take part in celebrations commemorating the 20th anniversary of democratic elections in Poland on 4 July – both in Kraków and Gdansk.
Contrary to recent reports, he does not intend to be at a rally of the anti-Lisbon Treaty Libertas party in Paris, held on the same day. Head of the Walesa Institute, Piotr Gulczyński, has denied speculation that Walesa plans to go to Paris, asserting that the former president hasn’t even been invited to the event, though he has taken part in previous Libertas rallies.
Gulczyński said that the details concerning Walesa’s participation in celebrations of the fall of communism are still under discussion. ]\
It is known, however, that his agenda includes a meeting of leaders of Central and Eastern European countries, scheduled for noon on June 4 in Krakow. The former president will then travel to Gdansk to participate in a conference organized by the European Solidarity Center. He is also most likely to take part in a concert held in the city later in the evening.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has decided that the main part of the celebrations be shifted from Gdansk to Krakow after trade unionists threatened to disrupt the event in protest at job losses in the shipyard industry. This meant relocating the summit of the Visegrad Group –which includes the ex-communist countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in Krakow. (ab/pg)