August Agreement anniversary celebrations end with Walesa and Thatcher

The celebrations of the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the August Agreements ended yesterday with participation of members of the government, former Prime Minister Lech Walesa and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The Agreements were signed on Aug. 31, 1980 by Walesa and representatives of the Communist government, after the latter agreed to demands made by the striking trade unions. Among those demands was registration of the Solidarity trade union. Yesterday Walesa gave a speech thanking all shipyard workers who went on strike in 1980 fighting for freedom. "To this day some of them are paying a high price for the victorious reforms," he said. Thatcher was awarded with an honorary citizenship of the city of Gdansk for her historic role in raising the Iron Curtain and being a subsequent advocate of Polish matters, effectively supporting democracy and freedom of movement in Poland. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 3, Rzeczpospolita, page A2)