Polish statesman and politician Alexander Kwasniewski: biography, activities, interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Aleksandr Kwasniewski is a well-known politician who has led Poland for more than 10 years and became one of the initiators of the "open door" policy in the field of EU enlargement.

Biography: early years

Alexander Kwasniewski was born on November 15, 1954 in the town of Bialogard. His parents moved to Poland from Lithuania and were respected doctors. Alexander did not want to continue the family tradition and after school he entered the lyceum with an economic bias. After graduating in 1972, the young man moved to Gdansk. There he entered the university at the Faculty of Transport Economics.

Already in his first year, Kwasniewski became a member of the Socialist Union of Polish Students. The activity and organizational skills of a young man from the outback did not go unnoticed, and two years later he was elected head of the university committee of the SSPS. However, Alexander failed to combine public duties with studies, and he left the university at the end of the 4th year, devoting himself to work as secretary of the Gdansk Committee of the Socialist Union of Polish Students. Besides, inIn 1977, A. Kwasniewski became a member of the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP), which was the ruling political force in Poland from 1948 to 1990.

Further career

In 1980, Alexander Kwasniewski was invited to work in the executive committee of the Central Council of the SSPS, and in 1981 he was offered to become the editor-in-chief of the youth publication ITD. Thanks to the efforts of an active young functionary, the magazine soon became one of the most popular in Poland.

Success in the editorial field was the reason that after some time Alexander Kwasniewski headed the editorial office of the newspaper "Standart of the Young". In this position, he did not have time to prove himself sufficiently, since in 1985 he was invited to take the post of Minister of Youth and Sports in the government of Zbigniew Messener. Kwasniewski managed to maintain his position even after Mieczysław Rakowski became the country's prime minister. In addition, in 1988, the politician headed the Olympic Committee of the PPR.

Biography after the victory of Solidarity

As a result of the coming to power of the party headed by Lech Walesa, great changes took place in Poland in all spheres, especially in the political one. In particular, the PUWP was abolished. By this time, Alexander Kwasniewski, together with like-minded people, had already founded the Social Democratic Party and became its leader. So, at the age of 35, he became the head of one of the most influential political forces in Poland, and was elected to the Sejm.

First election campaign

OnIn the 1995 elections, Lech Walesa and politician Aleksander Kwasniewski were initially the favorites in the presidential race. The latter traveled almost the entire country and was able to win the sympathy of fellow citizens. He spoke with exceptional respect for his political rival and promised a new path for European development. The Poles believed in the 40-year-old Kwasniewski, and he received 51.7% of the vote. Having taken office in December 1995, the politician left the ranks of his party. He motivated this step by saying that he wants to be "the president of all Poles."

Political and economic course

As president of Poland, Kwasniewski initiated many reforms. Among them are the transition to market democracy and the privatization of state property. In addition, he did everything possible for his country to join the European Union and NATO.

Thus, during the years of Kwasniewski's presidency, a new constitution was approved in a referendum, thanks to which, after the Madrid and Washington summits, Poland, together with the Czech Republic and Hungary, joined NATO. Both events caused dissatisfaction with the political opposition, but Kwasniewski safely remained in office until the end of his second presidential term.

2005 scandal

Almost immediately after the presidential election, in which Lech Kaczynski became the winner, an unprecedented political scandal erupted in the country. As journalists managed to find out, during the years of Kwasniewski's rule, secret CIA prisons operated on the territory of Poland. In them, inviolation of all international norms, persons who were suspected by the US intelligence services of collaborating with Islamist movements were detained without a court decision. Moreover, psychological and physical torture was regularly used against the prisoners, and all the defendants in the case turned out to be representatives of the party elite of the Union of Left Democrats. Immediately there were voices calling for the ex-president to be held to account, but only those directly involved in the organization of the prisons were prosecuted.

In recent years

After the end of the second presidential term, Alexander Kwasniewski (you already know who he is) did not leave active social and political activities. So, in 2007, he became a member of the Y alta European Strategy, and also took part in the parliamentary elections, leading the Left and Democrats party.

In addition, for several years Alexander Kwasniewski was a member of the international advisory body operating under the administration of the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and was also chairman of the Jerzy Szmaidzinski Foundation.

His managerial experience was used in other areas. In particular, in 2014, the politician was a member of the board of directors of Burisma Holdings. And Alexander Kwasniewski teaches at the School of Diplomacy. Edmund Walsh of Georgetown University, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 2006.

What Aleksander Kwasniewski thinks about the European Uniontoday

In early July 2016, the former President of Poland, who has always been an active supporter of European integration, spoke in Warsaw at a conference organized by the Kerber Foundation.

In his speech, he noted that after the UK leaves the EU, Europe is likely to be plunged into chaos. He also noted that it should be expected that similar referendums with the same result could be held in other states, which could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Private life

Aleksandr Kwasniewski met his future wife while studying at the University of Gdansk. Soon student friendship grew into love, and in 1979 the young people got married. After 2 years, Alexander and Iolanta had a daughter, who today works on Polish television.

Now you know who Alexander Kwasniewski is. The biography, career and political views of the politician are also known to you, so you can decide whether to take seriously his forecast for the near future of the United Europe.