Tributes paid to senior Polish MEP killed in car crash

Leading Polish MEP Bronislaw Geremek, a pivotal figure in the fight to end Communist rule in Poland and one of the leading statesmen of the democratic era that followed, has died in a road accident

Polish Solidarity leader Geremek dies in car accident.
LUCIA KUBOSOVA

July 14, 2008, The EUobserver

Polish Solidarity leader Bronislaw Geremek, one of the key figures of Poland’s transition to democracy, an ex-chief of diplomacy for the country and member of the European Parliament died in a car crash on Sunday (13 July), aged 76.

The accident happened in early afternoon in Lubien, western Poland, where Professor Geremek’s car ran into the opposing lane and crashed into another automobile, killing the politician instantly. Two others were injured and taken to hospital.

Bronislaw Geremek, Polish MEP, historian and former dissident has died at the age of 76 (Photo: Bronislaw Geremek office)

The news brought messages of condolence as well as praise of the Polish prominent figures from all corners of Europe.

“With an immense grief and deep pain I received reports about a sudden death of Professor Bronislaw Geremek,” reacted European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, adding he wished that the future generations would live up to the example of Mr Geremek as a symbol of free-spiritedness and the fight for freedom.

The European Parliament’s chief, Hans Gert Poettering, said Mr Geremek proved that it is possible to be close to one’s home country but at the same time close to Europe.

“Even with the passage of time, his memory will never be erased, nor his marvelous and mischievous smile obscured,” commented Graham Watson, the leader of the Liberal group in the EU legislature of which Professor Geremek was a member after Poland joined the bloc in 2004.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy referred to Mr Geremek as a “great actor of European construction and a re-unification of the continent.”

In the 1970s, Bronislaw Geremek was considered one of the leading figures in the Polish democratic opposition, and in 1980, he joined the Gdansk workers’ protest movement and became an active supporter of the trade union, Solidarnosc (Solidarity), for which he was imprisoned several times.

In 1989, he played a key role in negotiations between Solidarity and the communist authorities to agree on conditions for carrying out free parliamentary elections in Poland, ending the undemocratic era in the country.

As a founder of the Democratic Union party, which later merged into the Freedom Union, Geremek was first an elected member of the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, and between 1997 to 2000, he served as Poland’s foreign minister, where he oversaw the country’s adhesion to NATO.

After his country’s entry in the European Union, Bronislaw Geremek became a member of the bloc’s parliamentary assembly.

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July 14, 2008, 4:26 pm
ALDE requests parliamentary commemoration for Geremek

European Liberal Democrats have proposed that the EP Foreign Affairs Committee room should be named after Bronislaw Geremek.

A letter seeking the name change for the room situated opposite the Brussels Hemicycle has been sent to Parliament’s President Hans-Gert Pöttering. Bronislaw Geremek was an active Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“I have written to the President of the House with a proposal to permanently honour the memory of Bronislaw Geremek by naming one of our main meeting rooms after him. I hope to see it approved when Parliament resumes at the end of August”, said ALDE’s Leader Graham Watson.

“I am delighted that subsequently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has taken up this idea.
Bronislaw’s name is central to the story of European reunification. By this gesture we will leave a constant reminder of his life and deeds in our own institutional memory”.

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Polish leader pledges not to block EU treaty

July 15, 2008, Lucia Kubosova for EUobserver

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he will not create “obstacles” to the ratification of the EU’s new Lisbon treaty following a chat with French leader Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Monday (14 July).

His u-turn comes despite previous suggestions that after rejection of the treaty in Ireland’s 12 June referendum, it was “pointless” for the president to sign it.

Lech Kaczynski now says Warsaw will not block the EU’s Lisbon Treaty (Photo: Wikipedia.org)

Mr Kaczynski said: “The meeting was very good. I told [Mr Sarkozy] one thing: ‘Of course, Poland will not be an obstacle to the treaty’s ratification’,” several media reported.

He also told journalists that he had agreed with the French leader on a “joint plan” concerning the EU’s reform treaty, but he refused to reveal any details.

France is currently holding the six-month rotating chairmanship of the 27-strong European Union and achieving a full ratification of its reform plan is among the most crucial goals of Paris.

Speaking in the European Parliament last week, President Sarkozy promised he would seek a solution by October or December at the latest, while asking all other governments to keep their promise and allow ratification to be completed.

Referring directly to comments made by Mr Kaczynski, the French leader said: “The Polish president negotiated the treaty himself. He gave his word. He has to keep it. This is not about politics. This is about morality”.

Paris previously sent the same message to the Czech Republic - also hesitant about ratification - but Prague argues that it needs to wait until the country’s constitutional court rules on whether the Lisbon Treaty is in line with the Czech charter.