Lech Wałęsa

President of Poland from 1990 to 1995

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March 2025 Wrote a letter to Donald Trump with other former Polish political prisoners, expressing 'horror and distaste' over a contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, actively supporting Ukraine's defense against Russian invasion.
October 2024 Wałęsa described a potential victory by Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election as a 'misfortune' for both the United States and the world.
May 14 2022 Received an unspecified degree from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, United States
January 2022 Wałęsa tested positive for COVID-19 after having received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
2021 Wałęsa underwent a heart operation.
2017 A handwriting study ordered by the government-controlled Institute of National Remembrance stated that signatures on several documents from the 1970s belonged to Lech Wałęsa.
August 2017 In August, Wałęsa joined ten other Nobel Peace Prize laureates in urging Saudi Arabia to halt the executions of 14 young people involved in the 2011–12 protests.
February 20 2016 Wałęsa wrote in his blog about a secret police officer who had urged him to sign financial documents in the 1970s due to having lost money intended for a vehicle purchase, appealing for the officer to come forward to clear his name.
February 18 2016 The Institute of National Remembrance announced the seizure of original documents that allegedly proved Wałęsa was a paid informant for the Polish Security Service, with the authenticity of these documents later confirmed.
February 16 2016 After the discovery of the Kiszczak dossier, Wałęsa called the files 'lies, slander and forgeries', emphatically denying any collaboration and asserting that he had never taken money or reported on anyone.
February 16 2016 Following the death of General Czesław Kiszczak, his widow approached the Institute of National Remembrance to sell documents related to Wałęsa's alleged collaboration, leading to a police search and seizure of these historic documents.
September 2015 Made controversial remarks about refugees during the European migrant crisis, warning about potential cultural challenges of mass immigration.
September 2015 Wałęsa made inflammatory comments regarding the migrant crisis in Europe, suggesting that refugees might be better off than local populations.
2014 In an interview with CNN, Wałęsa expressed disappointment in US President Barack Obama and criticized him for failing to provide moral leadership, stating that Obama did not deserve his Nobel Peace Prize.
2013 The biographical drama 'Walesa: Man of Hope' was released, showcasing Wałęsa's transformation from a shipyard worker to a labor leader. The film won three awards, including the Silver Hugo for Robert Więckiewicz.
2013 Wałęsa made controversial remarks on Polish television regarding LGBT rights, which led to international backlash and subsequently apologized, stating his true intentions were distorted by the media.
2013 Wałęsa suggested the idea of a political union between Poland and Germany.
2011 Wałęsa declined Lithuania's Order of Vytautas the Great, citing concerns over the treatment of the Polish minority and Polish culture by the Lithuanian government.
August 2010 Wałęsa lost a libel case against Krzysztof Wyszkowski, who publicly accused him of being a Communist agent in the 1970s.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles List of awards and honours received by Lech Wałęsa & Lech Wałęsa, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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