Lech Walesa

The hero of Solidarity says it would be a ‘disaster’ if Jaroslaw Kaczynski succeeds his dead brother as president

On the occasion of that little anniversary in Berlin today, former Polish president Lech Walesa is once more front and centre, which is relevant to our narrow interest in that Mr. Walesa is one of Stephen Harper’s personal heroes. The two met last year when the Prime Minister visited Poland. Here, for whatever reason, is a photo of Mr. Walesa impatiently awaiting Mr. Harper’s arrival.

Twenty-one two Central and East European politicians of a certain (largely mid-90s) vintage, including eight former heads of state or government (including Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel, Mart Laar) and six former foreign-affairs ministers, write a letter to Barack Obama whose message can perhaps be summed up as, “Hey! Look over here!”