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From the late 1970's he was active in the clandestine opposition to the communist regime of Poland. He was one of intellectuals who joined the strikers at the Gdansk shipyard, birthplace of the Solidarity movement in 1980. He was interned for one year under martial law in 1981, and imprisoned again in 1983. Upon his release he immediately resumed political activity. He was later one of the architects of the new political regime of Poland after the fall of communism in 1989.Successively a member of the Polish Parliament, president of several parliamentary committees and co-founder of the Democratic Union, he was Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2000. Poland joined NATO during his tenure and made great progress towards EU membership.
A European figure
Bronislaw Geremek was a convinced European. Since 2002 he held the Chair of European civilization at the College of Europe in Warsaw. In June 2004, with Poland's accession to the EU, he was elected a member of the European Parliament. Speaking in early July - in what would be his last speech in Strasbourg - he told the House that "I am among those who believe in the power of ideas and European institutions". At the time of his death he was working on English and Polish versions of his book "Visions of Europe" which was originally published in French.
In Poland, Europe and internationally, he espoused the same values: democracy, freedom and justice, a world without political prisoners.
Mr. Geremek died on Sunday in a car crash in western Poland en-route to Brussels where he was due to participate in a series of meetings.
Author: European Parliament
