Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-26-Speech-1-068"
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"en.20050926.13.1-068"2
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"Mr President, on behalf of the Group for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, I would first like to pay tribute to the Polish workers who set in motion the process of the liberation and unification of Europe. I am moved and grateful to note that both the European Parliament and the European Commission appreciate the significance of the events that took place on Polish soil 25 years ago.
Polish workers took to their hearts the message of the Polish Pope, who urged them not to have fear. It was Polish workers who took action on behalf of their country, which longed for freedom. In so doing they proved those who believed that the proletariat has no fatherland to be mistaken. The workers took action in the name of freedom, standing up to a regime and a system that claimed to represent them. They made political demands, and called for freedom and the establishment of a free trade union to represent them. The workers also demanded freedom of the press, freedom of information and a state that was not controlled by Communist Party officials. All these demands expressed something crucial to the very essence of Europe, as they were demands for freedom.
It is also the case that when the Gdansk shipyard workers took action to improve their lot and that of their families, they were aware that their situation was the result of an alien regime that had been imposed on them. It was a regime to which the Polish nation had never consented. The amazing achievement of this mass movement of 10 million workers, farm labourers, and members of the intelligentsia was a peaceful revolution. It was a movement that encompassed the whole of Polish society and amounted to a rebellion against totalitarianism. ‘Without the use of force’ is a principle worth adhering to in today’s world too. It was a movement inspired by values. We are proud that the word solidarity has become part of the language of politics. It is a very significant word for us, a truly Polish word, and represents Poland’s contribution to the idea of Europe.
Mr President, it is my belief that the unification of Europe began at Gdansk, that East and West came together as a result of the movement started by the Gdansk shipyard workers, and that many other nations followed where Poland and Solidarity led. Solidarity inspired nations to be reborn and peoples to rise up for freedom. We feel proud of this, but above all we feel solidarity with those who brought freedom to Georgia through the Rose Revolution and to Ukraine through the Orange Revolution.
We hope that this non-violent example of regime change by way of negotiation, allowing European ideals to become reality, will remain relevant to today’s world. I feel sure it is important for Europe that as the European Union seeks its own identity, it should wish today to chart the course taken by the people who worked for the freedom of Europe. They were the men and women who ended the Cold War and made the unification of Europe possible."@en1
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