Press Release

29/08/2000: Solidarity 20th Anniversary: EPP Leaders meet in Gdansk to confirm attachment to the ideals of Polish solidarity

 Photos from Gdansk meeting  (photo 356 KB)

EPP government and party leaders met in Gdansk, Poland today under the Chairmanship of Mr.Wilfried Martens, President. The EPP Leaders confirmed their attachment to the ideals of the Solidarity Movement and to an early enlargement of the European Union. Mr.Hans-Gert Poettering, Chairman of the EPP-ED Group, as well as Mrs.Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament, were amongst the participants at this EPP Summit meeting in Gdansk.

The EPP Leaders adopted the following resolution :


EPP party leaders and heads of government honour the courage and vision of the Polish people, and the extraordinary movement founded here in the Gdansk shipyards 20 years ago.

Solidarity was far more than one of the periodic revolts against an oppressive system; more than the defiant democratic sense of "nothing about us without us"; more even than the irrepressible spirit of Polish society determined to be free.

The Solidarnosc revolution marked the beginning of the end of Communism, and of the division of our continent.

What began as the name of a strike bulletin in the late summer of 1980, Solidarnosc came to express to the whole world, in words and action - and also in sacrifice - the fundamental values of European civilisation, and of this, the European People’s Party.
We are not here just to celebrate the glorious past. The events of 1980 continue to inspire us. Freedom, Democracy and Solidarity remain the hallmarks of our vision of Europe, and of a Union which cannot be complete until it includes the nation where Solidarity was born. The EPP restates its commitment to bringing the candidate countries into the Union as soon as possible.

We are more than ever convinced that without solidarity in Europe as a whole, the Union can be no more than a technical arrangement: perhaps a sensible one, but nothing more than that. Our commitment is to a Union worth the name, a union based on our values.

For further information contact Robert Fitzhenry on GSM. +32.75.493356




List of participants/Liste des participants


Extraordinary Meeting of EPP Party Leaders and Heads of Government/
Réunion extraordinaire des Chefs de parti et de gouvernement du PPE
GDANSK, 29.08.2000


Wilfried MARTENS, EPP President / Président du PPE (B)

José Maria AZNAR, Prime Minister / Premier Ministre (E)

Nicole FONTAINE, EP President / Présidente du PE (F)

Franz FISCHLER, EU-Commissioner/Commissaire UE (A)

John BRUTON, EPP Vice President- President of FG, IRL/
Vice-Président PPE- Président du FG,IRL

Kostas KARAMANLIS, EPP Vice President- President of the ND, GR/
Vice-Président PPE - Président de la ND, Gr

Nadeshda MIHAILOVA, EPP Vice President - Minister for Foreign Affairs (BG)/
Vice-Présidente PPE - Ministre des Affaires Etrangères (BG)

Wim VAN VELZEN, EPP Vice President / Vice-Président PPE (NL)

Hans-Gert POETTERING, President EPP/ED Group / Président du Groupe PPE/DE (D)

Alejandro AGAG, EPP Secretary General / Secrétaire Général du PPE (E)

Andrej BAJUK, Prime Minister / Premier Ministre (SI)

Jerzy BUZEK, Prime Minister - President of the RS-AWS, PL,/
Premier Ministre - Président du RS-AWS,PL

Mikulas DZURINDA, Prime Minister / Premier Ministre (SK)

Edward FENECH-ADAMI, Prime Minister / Premier Ministre (M)

Ivan KOSTOV, Prime Minister - President of the UDF,BG/
Premier Ministre - Président de l=UDF,BG

Nicos ANASTASIADES, President of the DR,CY/Président du DR, CY

Leszek BALCEROWICZ, President of the UW,PL,/ Président de l=UW,PL

François BAYROU, President of the Nouvelle UDF,F/ Président de la Nouvelle UDF,F

Rocco BUTTIGLIONE, President of CDU,I/ Président de la CDU,I

Pierferdinando CASINI, President of CCD,I/ Président du CCD, I

Erna HENNICOT-SCHOEPGES, President of the CSV, L/ Présidente du CSV-L

Vilem HOLAN, Vice President KDU-CSL,CZ/ Vice-Président du KDU-CSL,CZ

Angela MERKEL, President of the CDU,D / Présidente de la CDU, D

Aloïs MOCK, Honorary Chairman of the ÖVP - Honorary Chairman of the EDU(A)/Président honoraire de l=ÖVP - Président honoraire de l=UDE (A)

Zsolt NEMETH, Vice President of FIDESZ,H/Vice-Président du FIDESZ,H

Jan PETERSEN, President of HOYRE, N/ Président de HOYRE, N

Alexander PRAMATARSKI, President of the DP, BG/ Président du DP, BG

Jan Maria ROKITA, President of SKL, PL/ Président du SKL, PL

Andris SKELE, President of TP, LV/ Président du TP, LV

Alf SVENSSON, President of the KD,S/ Président du KDS