"An exceptional man", "a respected Euro MP who, through his courage, humbleness and commitment, was able to embody the founding values of the European ideal". Nicolas Sarkozy, current EU Council President, remembered Bronislaw Geremek who died yesterday in a car accident. A prominent figure in the Polish opposition movement against Communism, he was amongst the founders of Solidarnosc. A medieval historian by training, he has been Poland’s Foreign Minister between 1997 and 2004; since 2004, he has been Member of the European Parliament. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, remembered him as "at the same time a great Polish patriot and a great European", together with the other "great heroes", Lech Walesa and John Paul II. "Immense grief and deep sorrow" was also expressed by José Manuel Barroso, EU Commission President, who described Geemek as "a European of extraordinary standing, a Pole with unshakeable beliefs". According to Barroso, the Liberal Democrat MEP was endowed with "the kind of wisdom that only great scholars are able to use to serve the noblest causes."
