Alexander Kwasniewski
Date of Birth: 15.11.1954
Alexander Kwasniewski - President of Poland 1995-2005 (re-elected for a second term in 2000).
Place of Birth. Education. Born in Bialograde (Poland). In 1977, he graduated from the University of Gdansk with a degree in economics.
Career. He was an active participant in the student movement until 1982. Among other things, he chaired the University Council of the Socialist Union of Polish Students from 1976-1977. From 1977-1979, he was the Vice President of the Gdansk Voivodeship Association.
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From 1981-1984, he was the editor-in-chief of the student weekly 'ITD'.
From 1984-1985, he was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper 'Standa Mlodych'.
In 1985, he co-founded the first periodic publication about computers, 'Bytek'.
From 1985-1987, he was the Minister of Youth Affairs of the Polish People's Republic.
From 1987-1990, he was the chairman of the Committee for Youth Affairs, Sports and Physical Culture of the Polish People's Republic.
From 1988-1991, he was the President of the National Olympic Committee of Poland.
He was a member of the government of Mieczyslaw Rakowski.
From 1988-1989, he was the chairman of the Government's Social Policy Committee.
From 1977-1990, he was a member of the Polish United Workers' Party (POUP).
In 1990, he co-founded the Social Democratic Party of Poland (successor of the POUP), of which he was the chairman until 1995. One of the founders of the Democratic Left Alliance in 1991.
From 1991-1995, he was a deputy in the Sejm.
From 1993-1995, he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Constitution Committee of the National Assembly.
He was elected President of Poland in 1995, defeating Lech Walesa in the runoff. Re-elected as President in 2000.
On March 7, 2006, Alexander Kwasniewski was appointed honorary professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches about contemporary European politics, transatlantic relations, and democratization in Central and Eastern Europe at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Chairman of the European Council for Tolerance and Mutual Respect, a member of the Board of the International Crisis Group, a member of the Atlantic Council of the USA, a member of the Bilderberg Group, chairman of the supervisory board of the 'Yalta European Strategy' and of the Amicus Europae Fund and the International Center for Political Studies (Kyiv).
In the 2007 early parliamentary elections, Alexander Kwasniewski led the 'Left and Democrats' block, which united post-communists and supporters of 'Solidarnosc' (Democratic Party). The block suffered a defeat.
Views. He was the initiator of a new Polish constitution that came into effect in 1997. He led Poland into NATO and the European Union. One of the initiators of the 'open door' policy regarding NATO and EU enlargement. He advocated regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe.
He supported the NATO war against Yugoslavia in 1999, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq in 2003. In December 2005, shortly after the presidential elections in which Lech Kaczynski had won, a political scandal occurred in Poland: journalists accused the authorities of having secret CIA prisons on Polish soil for several years, where individuals suspected by the US of involvement in Islamist movements were subjected to physical and psychological torture in violation of international norms.
Awards and Honors. Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He received awards from various countries, including the Ukrainian Order of Saint Vladimir of the First Class. He was also honored with the highest award of the Orthodox Church of Poland - the Order of Saint Magdalena of the First Class.
Family. Married, raised daughter Aleksandra.
25.10.2023