All Eyes On Cracow For 89 Anniversary
Heads of state from across Europe will be descending on Cracow this Thursday when Poland remembers the fall of communism in 1989.
Poland was the first country in the Eastern bloc to bring down its communist government - a matter of great pride to the Poles. Indeed, last month there was a rumpus over an EU-commissioned film which focused on the fall of the Berlin Wall at the expense of Poland's Solidarity revolution. As it was, the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, whilst the Poles had already set the ball rolling with their free elections of June 4th.
Distinguished guests at Cracow's celebrations include former Czech President Vaclav Havel and his Polish counterpart Lech Walesa, as well as current leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
Speaking to Polish Radio last month, Professor Timothy Garton Ash - one of the few westerners to have witnessed the revolution firsthand - described the Solidarity victory as "Poland's gift to the world."