30 years ago, on July 1, 1991, the protocol on the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact was signed in Prague. However, the transformations in the countries of Central Europe resulted in it being “dead” many months before its formal dissolution.

Poland has been present at CERN for 30 years

30 years ago, on July 1, 1991, Poland joined the member states of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), becoming a co-owner of the…

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On May 14, 1955, the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, commonly known as the Warsaw Pact, was signed in the capital of the Polish People’s Republic. It was created on the initiative of the USSR as a response to the rise of NATO and the “imperialist threat” from the US and Western Europe.

It was signed by the leaders of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union. Full control over all bodies was exercised by representatives of the USSR.

On the verge of changes in Central Europe, the capitals of the existing satellite states realised that the end of Brezhnev’s doctrine meant that it was necessary to rethink the functioning of the treaty structures. Immediately after the formation of Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s government in Poland, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared analyses concerning the transformation of the pact into a political forum or the initiation of real defence cooperation between Central European states.

Polish diplomats noted that the winners of the Cold War were not interested in the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Western politicians believed that the organisation could mitigate shocks caused by political reforms and social changes in Central Europe.

In September 1989, PM Mazowiecki stated that Poland would continue to respect its allied commitments, but that, in turn, they had to respect the state’s sovereignty.

Shortly thereafter, Warsaw slowly became aware of the Kremlin’s goals and saw that their aim was to restore the empire. As it was written in the interview report from April 1990, “from Moscow’s point of view, Poland must be dependent either on Germany or on Russia. The variant of Poland independent of Germany and Russia, and based on an alliance with the USA, is unacceptable.”

In June 1990, Hungary and Czechoslovakia submitted a motion to dissolve all structures of the Warsaw Pact. Poland did not join their declarations, but, like these countries, it signalled that it was not interested in its further reforms.

In February 1991, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary announced a joint position on the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. In April 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the USSR supported their appeal.

On July 1, 1991, in Prague, the presidents of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and the Hungarian Prime Minister met in order to sign the protocol on the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact.

“Our decision today has a real historical dimension, because it makes us definitely say goodbye to the era of Europe divided by ideological hatred,” Václav Havel, the then Czechoslovak president and the meeting’s host stressed on that day.

On March 12, 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were the first countries of the former Eastern Bloc to join NATO.