Poland didn't experience a groundbreaking moment in 1989. We didn't storm the secret police building. The squads of secret police, with all their political baggage, remained unscathed.

As a historian I refuse to recognize an epochal boundary before the fact.

Unfortunately the niveau of political culture is not particularly high in Poland - a relic of the communist past.

Many people expect, just as they did then, "those at the top" to make all their decisions for them: Please get us work, and take care of our rent. These people vote for those who shout the loudest and deliver promises that are ultimately impossible to fulfill.

I have made it a habit not to speculate over the psychological state of our elected leaders.

Poland didn't experience a groundbreaking moment in 1989. We didn't storm the secret police building. The squads of secret police, with all their political baggage, remained unscathed.