UN General Assembly
2014

joyful twenty-fifth anniversary of the abolishment of communism and the collapse of the Soviet bloc in Poland, which is also being celebrated in other countries of the region. That “spring of nations”, the second in the history of Europe, brought freedom to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe and respect for human rights and good democratic governance. At the time, changes for the better took place throughout Europe, and even worldwide. The Iron Curtain fell and so did the bipolar division of the world. The Cold War confrontation and its accompanying threats of nuclear conflict became things of the past. That historical change began in Poland with the establishment of the 10 million-strong Solidarity movement, a peaceful opposition movement against totalitarian oppression and the violation of nations’ rights. The victorious parliamentary elections of 4 June brought about the formation, on 12 September 1989, of the first non-Communist Government in our part of Europe since the Second World War, the Government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Just two weeks later, on 25 September, precisely