Libertas’s big catch: Lech Walesa

There is still so little material on the web pages of Libertas after the 1 May 2009 congress in Rome that it is difficult for an outsider to evaluate this newbie political party.

Most of the congress was geared towards pontification from the podium, with little policy developed by the congress or its grassroots delegates.

Many of the “national delegations” looked like estranged individuals from the outskirts of national politics. It is difficult to assess how magnetic the papist undercurrent is, or how much it will mobilise voters.

The big catch of the congress was the guest of honour, Lech Walesa. Described by Wikipedia as a devout Catholic, Walesa is a legendary man of international stature: Founder of the Solidarity movement, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Poland, the man of scores of orders, medals and honorary doctorates.



Walesa is a consummate communicator, and his speech made waves in the Polish media. No interpretation was given while he spoke in Polish, and a translation of his speech has yet to appear on Libertas’s web page.

Besides Walesa, there seem to be Libertas activists of national political stature in a few Central European countries, such as the Czech Republic, but there is a puzzling contradiction between their outspoken anti-integration policies and Declan Ganley’s professed pro-European opinions.

Here, too, we have to wait for speeches and translations to appear.


Ralf Grahn