"With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first democratic elections in new democracies, a new hope was born in Europe. This inspired unimagined change which allowed that almost a half a million of Europeans now together create peace, security and wellbeing of the current and future generations," Pahor said in his address.
The ceremony was also attended by former Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Havel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as high officials from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine and Estonia.
As part of the anniversary, numerous concerts and celebrations will take place all over Poland. Gdansk will be a focal point of many of the activities due to its role in the Solidarity movement.
Solidarity was the first non-communist trade union in Poland, constituting in the 1980s a broad anti-communist social movement. The movement pushed for free elections, which eventually took place in 1989.
