1989
Voting and debating in momentous times
Enrique Barón Crespo
Former President of the European Parliament
“ The world and the being do not blindly obey the orders of a technocrat or a political engineer , and they are not there in order to fulfil their forecast ” - Václav Havel
The 1989 European elections took place in a Cold War politicaL scenario that imploded dramatically just after . In fact , there were seismic announcements worldwide . In the former Soviet Union , Gorbachev ’ s coming to power in 1985 launched the policies of glasnost ( openness ) and perestroika ( restructuring ), the first proof of which was the diplomatic recognition of the European Community ( EC ) in 1988 .
June 1989 witnessed a succession of political earthquakes . On 4 June , Poland ’ s Solidarity won an overwhelming victory in partially free elections , the same day as the events of Tiananmen in China ; on 15 June the European Parliament was elected ; on 28
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