Beatification of JP II; the anniversary of Pilsudski’s 1920 victory over the Red Army; presidential elections - just some of the highlights to come in the next 12 months in Poland.

In his New Year’s anniversary TV address on Thursday night, President Lech Kaczynski looked back on the past 12 months with satisfaction: but he also looked forward to another year of anniversaries.

“The year 2010 will see some important anniversaries: victory at Grunwald, the 90th anniversary of the Miracle on the Vistula, the 30th anniversary of what many of us still remember very well - the creation of the Solidarity movement, which shook Poland, shook Europe and shook the whole world...”

Lech Kaczynski will be running for a second term as president in September this year: to get back in the Presidential Palace he is going to have to beat Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has a large opinion poll lead over the incumbent. The only president to win a second term since the fall of communism in 1989 was Aleksander Kwasniewski.

The beatification of Father Jerzy Popieluszko (left) - murdered by communist secret service agents in 1984 - will probably take place in June, while beatification of John Paul II will be in October, to tie in with the anniversary of Karol Wojtyla becoming Pontiff in October 1978.

In August, Poland will remember the forming of the Solidarity trade in union in 1980. A series of events will take place throughout the year to mark the first independent trade union in the communist bloc, culminating in ceremonies in Gdansk.

August will also be the 90 anniversary of the Miracle of the Wistula, otherwise known as the Battle of Warsaw, when Josef Pilsudski’s troops fought back the advancing Red Army under Lev Trotski. The Bolshevik defeat effectively put an end to Lenin’s dreams of a European proletarian revolution.

Culture in 2010 will be dominated by celebrations of Chopin Year, which were launched in Poland and France at midnight on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. In Chopin’s birthplace in Żelazowa Wola, some 60 kilometres west of Warsaw a special address was given by Minister of Culture Zbigniew Zdrojewski, and this was followed by a recital given by the 82 year-old American virtuoso Boris Janis and the 14 year-old Polish-born Canadian Jaś Lisiecki.

Chopin Year will include around 2,000 events in Poland and France, ranging from concerts and exhibitions to films and theatrical performances.

Anniversary celebrations will take place in July of the 1410 Battle of Grunwald when the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania prevailed over the Teutonic Knights. Culture Minister of Belarus Pavel Latushko met in Minsk on 17 December for talks with Minister of Culture Zdrojewski on coordinating the event, which will also include representatives from Lithuania, Russia and Germany.

Poland failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, so Polish football fans face a barren summer ahead.

But winter sports enthusiasts will have more luck as the Winter Olympics fall this year, to be staged in Vancouver, Canada.

Despite the long winters, however, Poland has a dismal record in the Winter Olympics, which negin this year on February 12. The nation began competing in 1924 but since then have won just eight medals: one gold, three silver and four bronze.

Favourite to bring back a medal this year is Justyna Kowalczyk, who won a bronze medal in the women's 30km cross-country ski event in Turin in 2006.

Tomasz Sikora won silver in the men's 15k biathlon event in Turin. At the beginning of 2009, Sikora was ranked No. 1 in the World Cup standings.

Another medal hope is Paulina Ligocka in women's snowboarding halfpipe who was third at the 2007 World Championships.