Brussels, 12/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Solidarnosc, the first independent trade union to have been created in Poland, the European Economic and Social Committee is organising, on Thursday 14 December in Brussels, a conference entitled "20 years of Solidarnosc - Opening the way towards changes in Europe". Lech Walesa will deliver an address during the conference. The event is being organised in collaboration with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Polish Embassy in Belgium, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and the World Confederation of Labour. An exhibition on the theme "Solidarnosc 1980 - 18 days that shook the world" will be presented in the ESC building during the conference.
Mr Walesa, the former leader of Solidarnosc of which he was one of the founders, served as President of the Republic of Poland from 1990 to 1995. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to him in 1983. Speakers will also include Jan Wojciech Piekarski, Ambassador of Poland; Göke Frerichs, President of the European ESC; and Roger Briesch, President of the ESC's Workers' Group; Marain Kerzaklewski, President of NSZZ Solidarnosc; Alexander Hall, founder of the Mloda Polska movement; and Emilio Gabaglio, General Secretary of ETUC.