Polish Pres. Duda in Gdańsk to remember Solidarity 1980
PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper
31.08.2015 15:04
President Andrzej Duda on Monday took part in a mass at the Basilica of Saint Brygida in Gdańsk, northern Poland, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the signing of the August Accords.
Head of the Gdańsk section of "Solidarnośc" Krzysztof Dośla (L), President Andrzej Duda (2L), head of "Solidarności" Piotr Duda (C), Janusz Śniadek (2R) and Marian Krzaklewski (R) at Saint Brygida. Photo: PAP/Piotr Wittman
The August Accords were between the nascent Solidarity trade union that emerged in the summer of 1980 and the communist authorities. It is widely seen as one of the first steps towards the gradual process of bringing down communism in Poland and the eastern bloc over the next nine years.
Monday's mass was attended, among others, by opposition Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński and his niece Marta Kaczyńska, the candidate for prime minister of the party, MP Beata Szydło, former PM and MEP Jerzy Buzek, former prime minister and deputy of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), Waldemar Pawlak. PM Ewa Kopacz was not there.
Gdańsk Metropolitan Archbishop Leszek Sławoj Głódź emphasised in his homily that not all of the demands made by Solidarity 35 years have been implemented.
"Even if improvements have been made in health conditions, there is still a lack of low-cost social housing and demand for a lowering of the retirement age," he said.
Speaking directly to the president, the archbishop asked him to [give] "service to the highest office of the Republic, as a ministry in the service of values, unchanging assets that make up the spiritual strength and greatness of our nation, the life of Polish communities, bringing order and harmony, affirming the dignity of citizens of a free country." (jh/rk)