Will Solidarity Spoil the Anniversary of Freedom?

The celebrations are to take place on 4 July - the anniversary of the first free elections in the then-Soviet bloc. Heads of state and government from a dozen or so countries are expected to attend. The Visegrad Group countries will hold a meeting. All under the slogan of the '20th Anniversary of the Regaining of Freedom and Collapse of Communism in Central Europe'.

A meeting of heads of state was planned to take place at noon on Solidarity Plaza under the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers.

But Solidarity has notified the city hall that on that day it will hold on the plaza an all-day rally in defence of the Gdańsk Shipyard with the participation of some 1,500 members. The rally could be called off by the union's National Council at its 20 May meeting. But the chances for that are slim.

'It's sow the wind and reap the whirlwind and that's why rescheduling the protest is out of the question', says Solidarity leader Janusz Śniadek. 'You can't reschedule human dignity'.

Gazeta has learned that the plan of the rally was discussed in detail at the Solidarity National Council's meeting at end-April. A couple of days later union leaders met president Lech Kaczyński in the office of the Gdańsk metropolitan bishop, archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź, who expressed support for their fight to save the shipyard from closure, but did not comment on the planned rally. Stocznia Gdańska is waiting for the European Commission to decide whether it has received illegal public aid. If Brussels orders the company to return the money, it will face imminent bankruptcy.

'We want to put pressure on the government so that it persuades Brussels to rule in our favour', says Karol Guzikiewicz, deputy head of Solidarity at the shipyard, known for his sympathy for the opposition Law and Justice (PiS).

'We don't agree either for politicians to use the Gdańsk monument to pursue their own political goals'.

Gdańsk mayor Paweł Adamowicz (Civic Platform, PO) appealed to Solidarity Monday to call off the planned rally.

'We have a chance to remind the world about Gdańsk's and Poland's historical role. This is an opportunity to promote ourselves in Europe, a unique opportunity that may never repeat itself'.

But he failed to convince the union.

'We'll do everything we can for the protest to be a peaceful one, but we can't guarantee anything, the feeling is very tense', said Krzysztof Dośla, head of Solidarity in the Gdańsk region.

In this situation, Mr Adamowicz deemed it necessary to warn prime minister Donald Tusk. The Council of Ministers discussed yesterday the possibility of calling off the Gdańsk ceremonies. The decision is to be made personally by the prime minister.

The government is afraid that the safety of the invited guests could be at risk.

But Mr Adamowicz tries to keep his hope alive. Regulations say that a public meeting can be prohibited if it posed a potential threat to human life, health or property. The mayor has delayed issuing such a ban to wait for the results of mediation talks that he asked Archbishop Głódź to conduct.

Ex-president and the historical Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa said the celebrations in Gdańsk should be moved elsewhere.

'There's no point in showing ugly images to the world and we union leaders won't be persuaded to change their mind. These people aren't open to argument'.

'There's so much ill will from Solidarity and the PiS that the chances for the celebrations to take place under the shipyard's wall are very slim', Rafał Grupiński, secretary of state in the Prime Minister's Office, tells Gazeta.

'I'm speaking of the PiS because the European Parliament campaign is under way and I don't believe the date of the planned rally has been chosen randomly. Solidarity is allowing itself to be exploited by the PiS and is doing everything to help Germany convince the world that the fall of communism began with the Berlin Wall rather than at the shipyard in Gdańsk.