be tremendously controversial, particularly among Solidarity activists and politicians m. In May 1991, nearly 10,000 protesters converged in Warsaw to voice dissent against the government's radical economic reforms. Simultaneously, Solidarity organized strikes in various parts of the country. Diplomatically, Bielecki's government continued the push away from the Eastern Bloc and towards a stronger alliance with the West. In February 1991, negotiations with the Soviet Union began the withdrawal of over 50,000 troops from Poland and a military dismantling of the Warsaw Pact. Under Bielecki, Poland voted to dissolve Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) and the Warsaw Pact, whose organizations officially disbanded between June and July 1991. Negotiations with Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands successfully lifted visa restrictions against Polish citizens. In June, Bielecki, along with his German counterpart, the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, signed the Treaty of Good Neighbourship between Poland and Germany, reaffirming the German-Polish Border Treaty and the Oder–Neisse line as the border between both nations. In November, following the conclusion of negotiations, Poland was invited to join the Council of Europe (CoE). Bielecki's government additionally led negotiations to sign an interim agreement with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC) on trade, though its completion would occur until after the Bielecki government had collapsed. In regards to the regional administration, the Bielecki government proposed an overhaul of local government, arguing to replace the newly created with county-level (counties), as well as proposing Poland to be decentralized into regions. The proposal called for the regions to be endowed with elected parliaments, answerable regional governments, and retain a regional central government presence. The idea was deeply influenced by the Länder (States) of Germany, envisioning a federalist model for Poland. Opponents of Bielecki's local government proposals charged the idea as a step towards German subordination, advocating instead for the republic to remain a unitary state (a state governed as a single entity). The proposal was later changed, envisioning Poland divided into ten or twelve voivodeships (Polish states) with the central government administering policy within each region. The reform proposals, however, did not enter into legislation. The decentralization plans have since been interpreted as Bielecki's attempt to create strong provincial governments in order to carry out the government's economic reforms. Within parliament, Bielecki's hold on the premiership was continually marred with difficulties. With a minority government, Bielecki faced a hostile parliament that