The current decade has witnessed numerous currents of change in seemingly unrelated places around the world. The Polish democratic refolution - term rightly used by Timothy Garton Ash to describe a combination of revolution and reform - gave stimulus to dialogue and compromise between previously irreconcilable actors. Not only in Central and Eastern Europe, but also in the Middle East, South Africa and Northern Ireland. The success of the process in any one of these locations has worked to the benefit of its positive conclusion elsewhere. Hence although the world may not have yet become a united global village, in certain crucial aspects of strengthening the democratic rules of the game, it does increasingly march to the same tune. In spite of setbacks which are caused by failure to take advantage of the new opportunities. The Polish record of building democracy. I look at the Polish experience with democracy with considerable pride. After we launched our transformation, there was a substantial amount of short-lived enthusiasm in our country and on the wider international scene. However, that soon gave way to a certain degree of civic discontent as the Polish people struggled with the demands of the economic restructuring and learned the benefits and obligations of living in a democracy. A lot of Poland?s success in that period should also be measured against the fact that international circumstances did not necessarily work in our favour. Even stable and age-old European democracies experienced their crises of confidence at the beginning of this decade. There was general public disaffection and disillusion with the political class which expressed itself in lower election turn-outs and unconventional choices at the voting booths. With the disappearance of the opposing model of political relations, the well-known dictum that democracy is not a perfect form of government, but the best of all available options had to be lived through once again in a changed context. It gives me particular satisfaction to be able to say that in spite of these multiple challenges which grappled most of Europe at the same time, the Polish democracy came out of this period with an upper hand. Passing the point of no return: Poland`s experience. The fashionable theories of the ?end of history`, while not at the first hand persuasive in their general message, offer an important lesson. They show that although there is no political order to compete with the liberal democracy, a lot of effort has to be continuously put in its consolidation. Central and Eastern European states have a more modest past experience of making the every day choices and meeting the obligations which are associated with the democratic practice. It is evident that in Poland the point of no return has been reached in leaving behind the legacy of the communist period. However, across the continent, there is still a lot to be done towards ensuring that the model of democracy which is emerging is a durable one and that it stands up to the multiple tests of the future. There are many components to it and their global picture should be taken into account. Poland has for the last eight years developed reliable and stable forms of parliamentary accountability while strengthening the rule of law and encouraging civil society. Free-market thinking has been conducive towards the consolidation of democratic procedures. The current parliament will be the first since 1989 to have served its full, four-year term. According to the ranking of the Washington-based Freedom House, Poland has some of the most liberal press in the world. While learning to combine freedom of expression and responsibility for the words and images, the Polish media have become an important agent of the ?checks and balances` system. Poland`s new Constitution: consolidation of democratic procedures combined with modern and innovative provisions. The experience of consolidating our democracy should soon find a reflection in the new Polish constitution. It will be a constitution combining Poland`s centuries old traditions with the demands, needs and expectations of a modern Polish state as well as the social and political preferences of our citizens. The Constitution contains important new provisions which are at the leading edge of the democratic practice world-wide and are set to become highly relevant for the political order of the next millennium. The instrument of the ?constitutional appeal` will allow each citizen whose constitutionally guaranteed rights or freedoms have been infringed, to appeal to the country`s Constitutional Tribunal. In an example of another innovative provision, the Constitution will allow legislative proposals supported by 100,000 or more citizens to be presented for consideration by Parliament. In Poland, we have therefore clearly made the quality of our democracy an important objective. Central and Eastern Europe`s growing diversity. The need to act against the emergence of new division lines. From the perspective of Western capitals, Central and Eastern Europe used to be perceived as forming one area in the political, social and economic sense. This longing for simplicity may have been justified by international conditions a decade ago, but it does not adequately reflect the current situation. In fact the one characteristic feature of the area is the enormous diversity of ways of social, political and economic development which have been pursued. My country has had a record of significant achievement in the recent years. In Europe, our levels of growth have in fact been only rivalled by those of Ireland. On the international scene, we have contributed to the consolidation of stability and the building of new habits of co-operation in areas extending beyond our region. This month, Poland is presiding over the Security Council of the United Nations while next year we will take over the chairmanship of the OSCE. While concentrating on its advancing preparations for NATO and EU membership, Poland is vitally interested in ensuring that the European construction is all-inclusive and offers valuable opportunities to every of its components. As a country which is confident of contribution it is soon going to make to NATO and the EU, we perceive it to be our special responsibility to assist those neighbouring countries which are experiencing difficulties in their democratic transition. It is our intention not to merely shift the frontier of the European structures to the Eastern border of Poland, but to help the transmission of tested standards and norms which have served the well-being of Europeans in the last half a century. Respecting each country`s right to choose its form of government, we want to encourage others in our neighbourhood to take the effort of working towards a more representative and accountable system of governing. From the point of view of the international community, it is crucially important not to become an introverted guardian of one?s own success. Warsaw is twice as distant from Tirana as Rome is and Dublin is four times further away, but we should all offer what we have at our disposal to avoid personal and national dramas on our continent. Poland at the doorstep of European and Euro-Atlantic structures. In Poland, we look into the 1990s with the expectation and confidence that we will use this period to write the future of our security and prosperity into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Our history, our desire to integrate with like-minded nations for the purpose of closer co-operation and more effective defence have made the option of joining the North Atlantic Alliance an attractive objective for my country. Poland`s aspiration to join the European Union is primarily based on the willingness to be part of the undoubtedly most successful political project on our continent. It is a project which has undergone numerous stages of development. The fortieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome which is celebrated this week testifies to that fact. Poland does not have the experience of integration which is shared by the founding members of the European structure. I am convinced that it is all the more important for us to have a clear vision of the European Union to which we aspire and to present as widely as possible the content of our contribution to the future enlarged union. The European Union Poland expects. I believe that if at any point in time, either Poland or Ireland would feel uneasy inside such a union, this would be a sign that the project has missed its historical objective. For centuries, Europe has been about diversity, however difficult it may have been to manage. Often it has also been about contradictions. To ensure that today`s European Union formulates an adequate response to the requirements and expectations of the new situation, it should search for ways to preserve that diversity while drawing on the common aspects of member-states` national interests. It should combine flexibility - necessary for its proper functioning in an enlarged format - with solidarity and cohesion. The Union of the future should be deeply written into the experience of its citizens. It ought to be characterised by the transparency of its governing mechanisms. It should be strong with the stature of its parliaments - regional, national and the European one. Above all, the Union which we in Poland expect is a union which considers the Eastern enlargement as an enrichment of its potential and common heritage. Poland`s contribution to the Union. The contribution which Poland intends to make to the European Union will be a product of the dynamism of our society in its quest to reduce the distance to the most developed economies of the continent. We will bring in a healthy economy, a large market, a solid growth potential and entrepreneurial spirit which is the driving force of the leading economies of the world. At the time of its accession, Poland will also contribute her euro-optimism as well as a strong conviction about the country?s belonging to the integrated Europe, which is currently expressed by over 80 percent of the population. Last, but not least, we will present our partners the Polish way of combining modern aspirations with attachment to traditions and social habits which are fundamentally important for trust and social cohesion of every modern state. Opportunities for Poland and Ireland in the enlarged Union. In the new enlarged European Union, Poland and Ireland will gain further opportunities to strengthen their friendly ties. Ireland is in many ways an example of how to comprehensively benefit from membership in the European structures while at the same time significantly contribute the success of the joint endeavour. We followed with great interest the Irish presidency of the European Union, both in the area of navigating the Intergovernmental Conference towards a consensual solution and in the field of preparations for enlargement. Given that fears are sometimes voiced about the effects and costs of enlargement to the current member-states of the Union, Poland is ready to answer all potentially sensitive questions in this domain. In our view, the experience of the previous enlargement processes shows that the benefits are shared by all sides. While stimulating the growth of trade, adjustments associated with enlargement do not so much affect the balance of the economic exchange between countries. The Irish and Polish economies are complementary to a larger extent than commonly assumed. Similarly, Ireland`s success in attracting foreign investment will not be endangered by the accession of Central European countries to the EU. At the same time, the opening of large markets in Poland and other states of the region will present Irish enterprises with numerous additional opportunities for economic expansion. Finally, as a joint grouping, the enlarged European Union will be able to compete more effectively on the global stage. It will also be better able to project its political influence. It will benefit from the injection of fresh spirit into its integration effort. In the integrated Europe, the political and economic distance between Poland and Ireland will be closer than ever. We are countries of remarkably similar histories and traditions. Although we are today discussing the new wave of democratisation, Poland`s and Ireland`s past provides ample examples of respect for liberty and self-determination. In addition, both our peoples attach a lot of importance to values such as solidarity and social cohesion. Even in the field where we do compete with each other - in poetry - it seems that we have reached a tacit understanding by taking the Nobel Prize in turn, the Polish poet Szymborska a year after the Irish writer Heaney. With such a potential, we can look with confidence at our future co-operation in the European Union.