Brussels, 30/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso is in Poland on 30 and 31 August to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of Solidarnosc, the first independent syndicate in Eastern Europe. The Polish Commissioner in charge of Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, also took part in this commemoration service. President Barroso will be in Gdansk on 31 August, the day of the historical signature of the agreement which instituted Solidarnosc, where he will stress the importance of the values of freedom and solidarity, at a ceremony attended by the first president of the syndicate, Lech Walesa, the former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the president of the Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, the Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson and the Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko. Mr Barroso will also take part in the signature ceremony for the Charter instituting the European Centre for Solidarity in Gdansk, and will then attend a conference in Warsaw entitled "From Solidarity to Liberty". It is worth noting that the Commission has provided financial support of 500,000 EUR for the anniversary celebrations for Solidarnosc, further to a request by the European Parliament. On Tuesday evening, the parliament held a commemoration ceremony in Brussels, which included the opening of an exhibition called "Images of Solidarity", which will be opened by President Josep Borrell. EUROPE will return to this.