fme_770853 - RÉPUBLIQUE DE POLOGNE Médaille, 700 ans de la ville de Barlinek

REPUBLIC OF POLAND

(since 1989)

The June 1989 elections marked a turning point for Poland. The Communists remain in the majority but the free trade union Solidarity is increasingly present. General Jaruzelski is elected President of the Republic on July 19, he appoints Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a member of Solidarity, as Prime Minister. The new government is turning Poland towards a market economy. In 1990, Lech Walesa became President of the Republic while a social crisis divided society and political instability created a parliamentary fragmentation. In 1993, the ex-communists won the elections, Walesa was defeated in the presidential election in 1995 and replaced by Aleksander Kwasniewski.