Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-26-Speech-1-071"
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"en.20050926.13.1-071"2
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".
Mr President, the 25th anniversary of the emergence of Poland’s Solidarity is not simply an occasion on which to commemorate that event, which marked the beginning of the unification of Europe. It is also an opportunity to recall a fundamental truth about the activities of people and nations, and about the moral and political foundations of the European Union.
The slogan that inspired millions of members of this trade union in 1980 and 1981 and also during the period of martial law was ‘There can be no freedom without Solidarity’. We were fully aware that it was upon solidarity between human beings that Solidarity with a capital S was based. That was what ensured its success and indeed its survival. It is also true that Western politicians and societies took this slogan to heart as they supported the people of Poland in their struggle for national sovereignty and democracy. This slogan therefore recalls the actions ‘Let Poland be Poland’ and ‘Solidarity with Solidarity’, and also the material aid that the union, its activists and many millions of ordinary Poles received from citizens of countries in the West.
You must believe me, ladies and gentlemen, when I say that the political, moral and material solidarity shown to us by people in the West helped to keep our hopes alive and made us feel that our efforts were not hopeless and that we were not alone. I experienced this myself.
I should like today to take the opportunity of having the floor in the European Parliament to offer sincere thanks to all those people of good will who expressed solidarity with us. In their wider meaning, the lessons of solidarity, with and without a capital S, remain valid today. ‘There can be no freedom without Solidarity’ also means that freedom is not an end in itself. In its economic sense, freedom is essential, but if it is bereft of solidarity it results in the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer and affects individual economies across the whole European Union.
Freedom can easily turn into anarchy or a new kind of oppression if it lacks a moral dimension. Freedom without solidarity amounts to self-will. Sooner or later it harms the individual or the community. It breaks up families and societies. Those who attempt to install freedom without solidarity and without fundamental rights such as the right to life, justice and honesty are disregarding the rights of others and undermining the community. Ultimately, they are endangering freedom itself."@en1
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