Aleksander Kwasniewski is the former President of the Republic of Poland (1995 - 2005). 

He was born on the 15th November 1954, in Bialogard, Poland. 

He participated in the famous "Round-Table" negotiations in Poland that finally brought the peaceful transformation of Poland and the whole Central and Eastern Europe from communism to democracy. He was a co-founding member and first chairman of the Social Democratic Party of the Republic of Poland. He was the co-author of the new democratic Constitution of Poland, which he signed into law on July 16th, 1997.

A great advocate of Poland's membership in both NATO and the European Union, it was under his leadership that Poland finally joined NATO in 1999. He is an active supporter of further alliance enlargement under the "open door" policy. A strong proponent of European integration, Kwa?niewski campaigned for approval of the European Union accession treaty in 2003, and saw Poland become a member on May 1, 2004.

Aleksander Kwa?niewski is one of the leading figures in European politics, the author of numerous local and regional initiatives, and he decisively joined the global war on terror and backed the decision to send Polish troops to Iraq. A long-standing supporter of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, Mr. Kwasniewski inspired the international mediation efforts during the Orange Revolution, helping the young democracy prevail in Ukraine.

During his Presidency, he courageously confronted the past, significantly contributing to the reconciliation between Poles and the German, Jewish and Ukrainian people.