Poland receives declassified CIA documents on fall of communism

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, during a visit to the United States, was given declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) materials on the fall of communism in Central European countries.

Stanisław Żaryn, the press spokesman for Minister Kamiński, on Wednesday told PAP that the recently declassified documents comprise 105 short-term analyses by the CIA relating to the end of communism in Europe.

Żaryn said that the materials not only "document the fall of communism in Poland, but also relate to other Central European countries and the Balkans. The minister already familiarised himself with the documents earlier - immediately following their declassification. After returning to Poland he will present the American papers to the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN)."

The official publication and discussion on the archival CIA papers was the highlight of a Washington-held conference on the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union, at which Kamiński was the main speaker. The conference was co-organised by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the CIA.