Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to address you at this “historic moment.”

I bring you a message of solidarity from the Polish people, a message of encouragement and of support. Poland is standing by to lend Tunisia a hand. Two weeks from today, when Poland assumes chairmanship of the Council of the European Union, we will be in even stronger position to foster assistance for Tunisia. Among the tools at our disposal, we will have a revamped European Neighbourhood Policy. 

With your own reformist zeal and determination matched by support from the European Union and the international community, Tunisian transformation cannot fail. 

Because of our shared experience of authoritarianism, Poles, understand what Tunisian people have suffered through.

Both our peoples also share a story of victory over adversity.

The Poles were the first in Central and Eastern Europe to kick out the communist party. We did so peacefully, thanks to the “Solidarity” movement.

Our triumph set off a domino effect. Throughout our part of Europe, communist dictatorships fell like a house of cards. The symbolic end was the toppling of the Berlin Wall.

Tunisian people too delivered a powerful jolt to the region - a revolution that has spread democratic contagion from the Atlantic all the way to the Gulf.

Just as we were the first in East-Central Europe, so, today, you are in the Arab world.

Poles watched in awe as Tunisian workers, youth, unemployed, and lawyers went out on the streets. “We, the people!” The young mobilized by sending tweets or messages through Facebook. Whereas in 1989 Poles got reliable news from Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America, you had Al-Jazeera and Al-Hiwar.

Ben Ali’s departure less than a month after protests began makes it plain that he was nothing but a paper leader.

So is anyone hanging on to power without a consent of the governed.

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Having toppled the regime, Tunisian people have crossed the Rubicon.

But, as you know well, the road ahead is not strewn with roses.

There’s a window of opportunity to bring governance to Tunisia based on popular representation, accountability, and human rights protection. A chance for “rule by the people”. However, that window may close soon, if people’s expectations are not met.

I’m not speaking to you as a teacher would lecture a pupil. I’m not here to impose recipes. I am simply happy to share advice with a friend who’s about to embark on a journey that we’ve gone through.

People learn about the Fall of Bastille from history textbooks. But, the story of Polish transition is recent and fresh in everyone’s minds. Its main protagonists are alive and well to tell it. Some of them visited Tunisia recently, President Lech Walesa and our Speaker of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz.   

Tunisians are asking the same questions the Poles had asked before.

What system of government to establish? Presidential or parliamentary, federal or unitary? What voting methodology to implement? What constitution to draw up and how? How to deal with former party and security services’ functionaries? Account for past abuses? What to do to ensure independent judiciary and media? Establish civilian, democratic control over the army and security services? 

In short, how to reform the state top down and bottom up, and, at the same time, guarantee a stable business environment letting the economy thrive.

When we in Poland started off reforms, our strategic context was not favourable either. You have at least a growing market economy. We had to build capitalism from scratch – and at a time of economic depression and hyperinflation. When the Soviet Union collapsed, our biggest market disappeared overnight. Yet, the Poles swallowed a bitter pill of reforms so radical they’ve become known as a “shock therapy.”

We had to jumpstart political reforms, including reframing defence policy, while Poland was a de facto colony. Until early 1990s there were 58 thousand Soviet troops on our soil! By comparison, Tunisia is an independent country.      

We bit the bullet and succeeded. So can you.

Your priceless asset are your educated youth. With one-third of your population plugged in to the internet, you’re riding the information superhighway. The World Economic Forum rated Tunisia the most competitive country in Africa. We shouldn’t be complacent, but with 59^th spot on the Transparency International’s corruption perception index Tunisia scores better than some EU member states. Much to your credit, Tunisia has the 2^nd highest level of female participation in the labour force of all Middle Eastern countries. And - I’m embarassed to admit – you spend more on education than Poland.

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There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

The European Union can help. You’re probably thinking the EU’s been in cahoots with Ben Ali, what else is new. You’re thinking – here’s a foreign minister of a country preoccupied with assisting Eastern neighbours. What do events happening 2,000 kilometers away from Warsaw matter to us?  

Well, give us the benefit of the doubt.

Last week, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé delivered a speech in Washington that amounted to a mea culpa. He confessed that Europeans “turned a blind eye to… abuses as if this region of the world didn’t have the right to freedom or modernity.” He admitted that past EU policy has been guided by an overriding concern for stability.

We have turned the page.

Look, at the EU’s reaction to events in your country, to what’s happened in Tahrir Square. Watch our resolve to protect human lives in Libya.

The EU’s response might have seemed belated at first, but no one had predicted change. Just as twenty-two years ago nobody anticipated the fall of the Iron Curtain.

We’re learning from mistakes, recalibrating and sharpening policy.

I challenge you to lay aside your assumptions about Poland’s stake in the European Neighbourhood Policy. 

You will surely agree that it’s natural that one’s concern is first and foremost with an immediate neighbourhood. But, Polish foreign policy is about norms.

Polish Idealpolitik has long traditions. Back in the nineteenth-century, Poles fought for liberty on several continents under the banner: “For Your Freedom and Hours.” Today, the trademark of Polish foreign policy is “Solidarity”.

Poland has been a driving force behind the Community of Democracies. With like-minded states, we have created a caucus within the United Nations committed to put democracy-promotion on top of the international agenda.

Fifty-six countries, members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe chose to locate the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. This is a vote of confidence in our expertise in institution-building.

Already back in January this year, I told my EU colleagues that we should establish a new instrument: the European Endowment for Democracy. This flexible tool would let us channel aid to NGOs and advocacy groups on the ground, best attuned to people’s needs. Civil society is after all the lynchpin of “deep democracy.”

We have put money where our mouth is, supplementing this initiative at the EU-level with our national project to establish the International Solidarity Fund.  

When we assume EU Presidency, we will have even greater opportunity to foster democracy-promotion, particularly through the reformed European Neighbourhood Policy. 

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So, what’s new about it?

Let me highlight two key features:

(1)         Democracy-promotion

(2)         and support for sustainable economic development, focusing on opportunities for youth.

The core of the reformed European Neighbourhood Policy is what had already been communicated in A Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity – it’s supporting democratization.

Tunisian revolution has discredited the notion that enforced stability guarantees security. Samuel Johnson said: “Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.” Freedom does equal a certain measure of instability.

In the first decade after we’ve overthrown dictatorship Poland had nine governments. I suppose many Italians have lost track of how many governments they’ve had. Yet, few would argue that our countries are unstable. 

European Neighbourhood Policy will help. In addition to the European Endowment for Democracy, we’ll have the Civil Society Facility to help empower grassroots movements. They’re the thread that makes up the fabric of democracy.

Through the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly we will strengthen the human rights dialogue.

In turn, through the Comprehensive-Institution Building, we will build key administrative capacities, for instance, in the judicial sector.   

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Scholars have noted a correlation between democracy and peace. There’s a third part to this equation – a well-lubricated free market economy.  

Experts note that “the economy will make or break the success of the revolution.” Your breakthrough has debunked another myth - that authoritarian modernization works. Where did economic policy steered by a kleptocracy get you: unemployment, polarization, unsustainable growth – in short, mismanagement.

The social contract that underpins democracy should ease tensions between groups that may see themselves as “losers” from transition.

The EU will provide additional support to ease tensions.

We’re offering you Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Economic integration is thus no longer reserved only for East European partners.   

We see Tunisia as part of the Common Knowledge and Innovation Space. Linking universities and research centers, enhancing twinning. Opening up Erasmus programs and others for students and researchers. Offering opportunities for the best and brightest. Not siphoning them off through “brain drain” but giving them skills, which they can put to use at home.

We have a vision of Tunisia’s place in the EU-Southern Mediterranean Energy Community, benefitting from common energy programs and infrastructure projects.

We’re extending the mandate of the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development towards Southern Mediterranean.  We can also avail of the Neighbourhood Investment Facility. With the financial institutions on board, we’ll have the resources to help meet our ambitions. The European Neighbourhood Policy envisages new funding. Together with the $40-billion G8 “Arab Spring” initiative, we’ll boost sustainable economic development. I’m glad Tunisian government has already come up with an action plan for this. 

The new European Neighbourhood Policy will breathe life into the Union for the Mediterranean. It will focus on concrete projects to help generate jobs, and link up Tunisia and other countries in regional cooperation. They include the Mediterranean Business Development and the Trans-Mediterranean Transport Network.  

Before coming here, I took a walk through your beautiful capital.  Tunis looks like a vibrant city full of optimistic, cosmopolitan people. I’ve been told that your interior regions are more economically distressed. They’re victims of neglect by the former regime. That’s why, we’ll launch pilot programs to support rural and agricultural development. We’ll help put residents of Sidi Bouzid [Sidi Bałzid] and other towns back on their feet.

We can’t facilitate open societies and economic liberalization, and yet close Europe off to Tunisian people. To this end, we’ll launch a dialogue on migration, mobility and security with Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. It’ll be a first step towards a Mobility Partnership.

Tunisian students, academics and business people should be able to travel to Europe. In a globalized economy, openness is essential to foster exchanges of know-how, facilitate transfer of successful policy models, and people-to-people contacts.      

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I don’t intend to  overwhelm you with technocratic jargon. Behind each of the initiatives I’ve just mentioned lies a clear objective, resources and process.

The ownership of transition is yours.

 “What a neighbour gets is not lost,” says an English proverb. Our neighbour’s gains are our own gains. Poland is genuinely interested in Tunisia making it through the transition. Your success holds a high stake for the Maghreb and Levant. You’d become a hub of modernization, an inspiration for others.  

All the incentives the EU is putting on the table will be tailored and based on the “more-for-more” principle. This is not paternalism. We really intend conditionality to work. I understand your scepticism. In the past conditionality did not work as it should. Ben Ali would harass society, yet EU goodies continued to arrive. It’ll be different this time. A slide-back to authoritarian impulses would be met by stern reaction. “Less-for-less” means exactly what it says.

This is an exciting moment in Tunisia’s history. You have a chance to build a pluralist, inclusive society, an opportunity to cushion the blow of the economy on the more vulnerable members of society.

Historic winds of change are on your side. With Egypt and – hopefully – Libya too, embarking on reforms, you’ll not be alone in the region.

For the first time the EU in partnership with Tunisian people we’ll have a chance to turn the Mediterranean into a “European lake.” Not through imperial means. Not through mentoring, but precisely through partnership.   

“A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed.” Recalling this piece of wisdom, I leave you off with straight-out assurance: Tunisia finds in Poland a reliable friend.