UK: Romney stirs Solidarity, won't answer questions from media

BBC

Mitt Romney Poland visit stirs Solidarity

 

Mitt Romney went to the Gdansk shipyard, the heart of Poland's trade union movement

 

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Mr Romney won't answer any questions and even his press team finds it difficult to respond to the most basic inquiries about what their candidate has said”

Mark Mardell North America editor

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The former Massachusetts governor's tour is intended to drum up support and increase his profile globally as he faces incumbent President Barack Obama in November's presidential elections.

Mr Romney was met in Gdansk by Mr Walesa - Solidarity's first leader and Poland's first democratically-elected president - and by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

"He's very open, and brimming with values, his wife is always by his side, he's got five kids -- we're very much alike, I really like him and am pleased we met," Mr Walesa told reporters.

But the trade union movement, which originated in Gdansk and toppled Poland's communist regime in the late 1980s, said it had nothing to do with Mr Romney's trip to the city.

"Regretfully, we were informed by our friends from the American headquarters of AFL-CIO (trade union in the US), which represents more than 12 million employees... that Mitt Romney supported attacks on trade unions and employees' rights," Solidarity said in a statement.

Mr Walesa and Solidarity have not seen eye to eye for some years.

See report at the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19052292