Poland, 1989
It's been twenty years since the end of Round Table negotiations, considered a mile stone in the fall of communist power in Poland. The Round Table also paved the way to the democratic changes in East Central Europe, making the fall of the Berlin wall possible. The anniversary is remembered with sentiment, though the public opinion is increasingly divided on evaluating the circumstances of event.
On the 5th of April 1989, representatives of Poland's communist authorities and part of the democratic opposition ended their two month negotiations regarding the division of power in the country. They had agreed to sit together at the Round Table following a growing wave of anti-communists strikes and protests in August of 1988. As a result of the Round Table talks, "Solidarity" freedom movement was legalized, communists said they would respect freedom of speech and judiciary independence. A date was set for partially free elections to the parliament and free elections to the Senate.
While the Round Table talks were still in progress, they were already strongly criticized by part of the opposition. Those who agreed to trade with communists were deemed traitors and collaborators, selected in an undemocratic way. Questions were raised also about the behind-the-scenes events surrounding the official talks and the way power was traded between communists and a selected, allegedly not representative part of the opposition.
The criticism has been growing over the years and today public opinion is increasingly divided on the issue. According to a recent poll published in Rzeczpospolita daily, half of the population have a positive opinion about the Round Table but more and more people become disappointed as they discover less known facts about the events or evaluate their present final outcome. Nearly one third of those polled say their opinion about the Round Table evolved from positive to negative. Only 10% changed their mind the other way.
Click on the audio icon to listen to the report by Joanna Najfeld.