Solidarity, headed by Lech Wałęsa, led to a great political and social changes not only in Poland, but also in whole Europe.
A mass social movement, reaching 10 millions of members, allowed to achieve what seemed unachievable – freedom. In 1989 communism in Europe began to collapse. But the great and peaceful victory would not be possible without the idea of solidarity and conviction that only through common action we may address the most difficult challenges. These simple principles had always been close to Lech Wałęsa’s heart.
The fundament for the historic uprising of the Solidarity was resistance towards a repressive communism and imposed Soviet power. Today, 30 years later, free and democratic world has to face new challenges. Populism and the crisis of democracy, social and economic inequalities, ongoing globalization and new technologies, climate change and environmental damage – solving this issues requires a new sort of cooperation and agreement above the existing divisions. We need a Solidarity of the 21stCentury – an idea Lech Wałęsa urges for since many years.
Solidarity of the 21stCentury means going beyond thinking in terms of particular states and private interests in order to build new fundaments for truly global cooperation and establish principles according to which the current civilization may function. As Lech Wałęsa often highlights, technologies we created no longer fit the current socio-political and democratic framework. We need to develop new structures and forms of cooperation. We have to agree on common values for the 21stCentury.