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“Lech Wałęsa goes to Africa” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza as the former Polish president and legendary Solidarność leader flies out to Tunis on 28 April to share his experiences in leading the democratic transformation in Poland. Wałęsa will head a mission of “the founding fathers of democracy”, including politicians, economists and experts, who will talk to Tunisian academics and elites, and hold open meetings with young people. “Poland has a unique experience in moving from dictatorship to democracy,” a high ranking Polish diplomat told the Warsaw daily. Poland wants to help Tunisia train journalists of independent media and administration cadre, using the same methods that it has tested with Belarus. “We don’t intend to patronise anyone. It is not for Tunisia to copy our solutions, but to create its own, based on our experience. [...] Poland has no colonial background, so we do not cause such allergy as some other European countries”, observes political scientist Aleksander Smolar in Gazeta Wyborcza.
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