Lech Wałęsa and nine other leaders of the 1980s Solidarity movement have addressed a letter to the President, Prime Minister and MPs asking them to take responsibility for organizing the celebrations of the successive anniversaries related to the historic trade union.

Their joint appeal says that for the past twenty years these anniversaries have served, not to enhance the reputation of the Solidarity movement – which is celebrating 30 years since it won key concessions from the communist authorities - but to “destroy the memory of those times”.

According to the signatories of the letter, which include Bogdan Borusewicz, Władysław Frasyniuk and Zbigniew Bujak, the only official event to mark the 30th anniversary of the Gdansk Agreement of 1980 – the Solidarity congress in Gdynia yesterday – was a sham. They claim that, logo apart, today’s Solidarity has nothing in common with the traditions of the 1980-era movement and with the courage displayed by its leaders during martial law.

The letter says that President Komorowski, Prime Minister Tusk and MPs are responsible for protecting the true values of Solidarity in the future.

The letter comes after Lech Walesa boycotted many of the celebrations remembering the August Agreements of 1980 as a sign of his continued estrangement from the trade union he used to lead. (mk)