Aleksander Kwaśniewski

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Aleksander Kwaśniewski (2013)Signature of Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Aleksander Kwaśniewski [ alεkˈsandεr kfaɕˈɲεfski ] Listen to the correct pronunciation of the name(born November 15, 1954 in Białogard , Poland ) was the third President of the Third Polish Republic . His term of office ran from December 23, 1995 to December 23, 2005 over two terms.

Life

Kwaśniewski belonged to the government of Zbigniew Messner as youth minister during the time of the People's Republic of Poland between 1985 and 1987 and was promoted by Wojciech Jaruzelski . During the phase of change from the communist people's republic to today's parliamentary-democratic Poland, he took part in the government's round-table talks with the Solidarność trade union .

From 1990 to 1995 he was chairman of the social democratic party SdRP , which he co-founded and which joined the SLD in 1991 . In 1995 he was able to prevail in the presidential elections against Lech Wałęsa and became President of Poland on December 23, 1995. With his resignation from the SdRP in the same year he raised the claim to represent all Poles across party lines. In 2000 he was re-elected for a second term in the first ballot .

Kwaśniewski led Poland into NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004 . During his tenure, he also maintained particularly good relationships with the presidents of neighboring Polish countries Valdas Adamkus ( Lithuania ), Rudolf Schuster ( Slovakia ) and Václav Havel ( Czech Republic ). Relations between Kwasniewski and the Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma were excellent . During the crisis in Ukraine in November 2004, Kwaśniewski, together with the Lithuanian President Adamkus, was an important mediator between the conflicting parties of the so-called Orange Revolution .

Despite his great popularity in surveys (between 65 and 75 percent), he was particularly controversial as president in the area of ​​domestic politics. Kwaśniewski blocked, among other things, social reforms of the bourgeois government of Jerzy Buzek , for example an administrative reform, a tax reform or a reprivatisation law. Kwaśniewski was also accused of playing down corruption in Poland. After various affairs, he was forced to fire large parts of his closest colleagues.

Kwaśniewski was named as one of the candidates to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO Secretary General . After the 2005 elections, he resigned on December 23, 2005, as the Polish constitution does not permit a third term.

Since 2007, Kwaśniewski has been actively involved as chairman of a new left-wing party alliance between the SLD , Unia Pracy , the SdPL (all social democratic) and the social liberal Democratic Party . Kwaśniewski himself did not run as the top candidate of the group under the name LiD - Left and Democrats . His appearance as a former president was intended to strengthen the opposition in the election campaign against the ruling party of Jarosław Kaczyński and achieve a stronger presence of left parties in the Sejm , which was newly elected on October 21, 2007. An important appearance by Kwaśniewski was a televised debate with Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński on October 1, 2007.

Since June 2012, Kwaśniewski has been monitoring the criminal case against Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine on behalf of the European Parliament . See also: Hapsburg Group .

Since 2013 he has been supporting the Europa Plus initiative together with MEP Marek Siwiec and Sejm MP Janusz Palikot .

Since January 2014, Kwaśniewski has been a member of the management of Burisma Holdings Ltd, a Cypriot-Ukrainian gas company.

He is married to Jolanta Kwaśniewska .

Election results in presidential elections

  • 1995 : 51.72 percent (2nd ballot)
  • 2000 : 53.90 percent (1st ballot)

Awards (excerpt)

Individual evidence

  1. Cox and Kwasniewski become process observers of the European Parliament in the proceedings against Tymoshenko ( Memento of May 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Press release of the President of the European Parliament of June 6, 2012
  2. ^ Board of Directors. (No longer available online.) In: burisma.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014 ; accessed on May 19, 2014 (English).
  3. Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 20 listopada 1995 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w drugiej turze głosowania, przeprowadzonej w dniu 19 listopada 1995 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. November 20, 1995, accessed January 4, 2013 (Polish).
  4. Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej z dnia 9 października 2000 r. o wynikach głosowania i wyniku wyborów Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, zarządzonych na dzień 8 października 2000 r. In: Dziennik Ustaw, sejm.gov.pl. October 9, 2000, accessed January 4, 2013 (Polish).
  5. List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF file; 6.59 MB)
  6. Archive link ( Memento from February 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Aleksander Kwaśniewski  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files