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| Central
Europe, August 1989 |
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| 07.08.1989 | P | Wałęsa offers the ZSL and SD (Democratic Party) a coalition of non-Communists, to the surprise of his closest friends. Both parties entered the June election as declared coalition partners of the PVAP. |
| (same week) | P | Aleksander Bentkowski has an audience with prime minister elect Kiszczak and makes it very clear to him that he can no longer count on the Agrarian Union's votes in the Sejm. Kiszczak's election was taken up by the population in "a fatal way," no longer supported by the majority of citizens |
| 08.08.1989 | DDR | The permanent representation (mission) of
the FRG in East Berlin is closed to visitors "until further notice", due
to the flood of those willing to emigrate. Bonn appeals to would-be refugees
not to seek to leave via its diplomatic representatives, stating that only
DDR authorities can grant exit permits. 170 arrive in the FRG aboard a special train from Vienna after crossing illegally from Hungary |
| P | The former bloc parties, ZSL and SD, give a cautious welcome to Solidarity coalition proposals. | |
| 10.08.1989 | P | Wałęsa speaks to Polish TV from his holiday
in Pommerania. When asked about government participation by Solidarność:
"We haven't got that far yet." A delegation from Solidarity visits a sitting of the parliamentary party of the Agrarian Union (ZSL) in parliament to "discuss the possibilities of a possible government coalition." |
| 13.08.1989 | DDR | 400 members of various oppositional groups meet in the Confessional Church, Berlin-Treptow. |
| 14.08.1989 | H | Budapest FRG embassy is closed due to the number of DDR refugees there. |
| 16.08.1989 | H | The four-man governing body of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party says it "does not identify itself with the military imtervention of 1968 .. controversial issues must be ironed out through discussion between countries and parties." |
| P | Some Polish communist deputies call for the "social democratisation" of the PZPR and indicate their willingness to split from the old leadership altogether. Solidarity deputies attending the meeting call on them to remain in the communist parliamentary group "the better to stir up trouble." | |
| 17.08.1989 | CS | Prague denounces Poland and Hungary for playing into the hands of the enemies of socialism at home and abroad. The government says it will crack down on all public demonstrations on the anniversary of the invasion (20.08.68). |
| H | Austrian newspapers in Budapest and flyers advertise a pan-European picnic to be held on the border to celebrate the removal of barbed wire border fences. | |
| P | Wałęsa's opposition coalition leadership
(Wałęsa, Malinowski [SZL/PSL Peasants' Party] and Jozwiak [Democratic Party])
presents itself to Jaruzelski and asks him to appoint a Solidarity PM. General
Czeslaw Kiszczak submitts his formal resignation. The president says he sees the need only "to create a government of national responsibility, which will include all the social forces represented in the parliament." Jerzy Jozwiak, leader of the Democratic Party, says the president "expressed general approval of" coalition plans; Wałęsa: "The president and I are thinking along the same lines." Jozwiak: Communists will "absolutely not" be left out of coalition altogether. It would be a coalition "of equality and agreement." Solidarity deputies say Wałęsa will "form" but not "lead" the government and that he submitted three candidates to the president: Bronisław Geremek, Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Jacek Kuroń. Communist deputies issue a statement declaring themselves in favour of a "government of experts" independent of political parties. Rakowski says efforts to form a non-communist coalition "amount to a total coup d'état." The Sejm consensually condemns the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. "The intervention breached the inalienable right of every nation to self-determination and its natural desire for democracy, freedom and respect for human rights. |
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| 18.08.1989 | DDR | In Neues Deutschland the SED repeats its justification of the overthrowing of the Prague Spring. |
| 19.08.1989 | H | Mass flight of DDR citizens during a pan-European
picnic on the Hungarian border with Austria near St. Margarethen in Sopronköhida
forest, organised by the Austrian European Movement and Hungarian Democratic
Forum MDF. Approximately 600 storm a normally locked border gate which was to be symbolically opened during the pan-European picnic. It remains open for three hours. Hungarian TV reports border troops showing refugees the way to the borders. |
| P | Central Committee meeting of the Polish Communist Party. | |
| 21.08.1989 | CS | 10 000 mainly young demonstrators mark the 21st anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, with participants from Hungary and Poland. Chants include "long live Hungary," "long live Poland" and "long live Dubček." |
| 22.08.1989 | CS | The Prague Embassy of the FRG is closed, overflowing with those seeking to travel West. |
| P | New PZPR leader Rakowski telephones Gorbachev to determine Moscow's attitude towards the possibility of Mazowiecki as PM. | |
| 24.08.1989 | H | Hungary tolerates the crossing of the Austrian border by DDR citizens. Those who are in the German Embassy in Budapest are allowed to leave the country. Gyula Horn calls for a solution according to "humanitarian principles." |
| P | Solidarity MPs in the Sejm put forward
their own candidate for prime minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki. He becomes the
first contemporary non-communist PM in East Europe. |
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