Debate resumed from 16 June, on motion by Mr Slipper:

That the House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

4 June 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the first post war free elections in Poland, and that these elections marked the end of undemocratic communist party rule in Poland; and

(b)

the example of free election in Poland led to the overthrow of all the communist regimes of central and eastern Europe, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, and eventually also to the dissolution of the Soviet Union;

(2)

congratulates the people of Poland for their unbroken record of struggle over more than 60 years against both Nazi and Communist occupiers to regain their independence and restore democracy and freedom; and

(3)

notes that the restoration of democracy and a free market economy has led to the increasing security, prosperity and freedom which Poland has enjoyed since 1989, culminating in membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union.

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