of Poland (1945–1989) In 1950, Geremek joined the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He was the second secretary of the Basic Party Organisation (POP) of the PZPR at Warsaw University. In 1968, however, he left the party in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. During the 1970s, Geremek was considered one of the leading figures in the Polish democratic opposition. In 1978, he co-founded the Society for Educational Courses, for which he gave lectures. While on a Fellowship at the Wilson Center in Washington DC, he met General Edward Rowny who introduced him to Lane Kirkland and Ronald Reagan. In August 1980, he joined the Gdańsk workers' protest movement and became one of the advisers of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarność (Polish for "Solidarity") – NSZZ. In 1981 he chaired the Program Commission of the First National Convention of Solidarity. After martial law was declared in December 1981, he was interned until December 1982, when he once again became an adviser to the then-illegal Solidarity, working closely with Lech Wałęsa. In 1983, he was again arrested by the Polish authorities. History of Poland (1989–2008) Polish Round Table Agreement Between 1987 and 1989, Geremek was the leader of the Commission for Political Reforms of the Civic Committee, which prepared proposals for peaceful democratic transformation in Poland. In 1989, he played a crucial role during the debates between Solidarity and the authorities that led to free parliamentary elections and the establishment of the ‘Contract Sejm’. Third Polish Republic Geremek then became one of the founders of The Democratic Union (later merged into The Freedom Union) and was the leader of the Democratic Union's parliamentary group from 1990 to 1997. After the elections in 1991, President Lech Wałęsa asked him to form a new government, but Geremek failed to do so and Jan Olszewski was appointed Prime Minister instead. From 1989 to 2001, Geremek was a member of the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, and chairman of the Political Council of the Freedom Union. He chaired the Sejm's Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1997, its Constitutional Committee from 1989 to 1991 and its European Law Committee from 2000 to 2001. After a coalition government was formed in October 1997 by the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and the Freedom Union, Geremek served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek until 2000. In 1998,