Walesa to AFL-CIO: More Help Needed : Poland: Solidarity leader thanks union federation for its support, but presses his case for more U.S. aid.

Lech Walesa today thanked the AFL-CIO for its “unfailing and reliable” support of Poland’s Solidarity union and called for swift and heavy investment in his country’s fledgling market economy.

“You helped us survive the most difficult days, the moments of despair and hopelessness,” Walesa told the AFL-CIO convention after an emotional welcome from hundreds of labor leaders at a downtown hotel ballroom.

“Now the time has come to thank you; to thank you for your solidarity with Solidarity--with the cause so many people considered lost and which now, thanks to the stubbornness of Poles and the perseverance of our friends, has put us on the road to victory,” said Walesa, speaking through a translator.

“Our country needs your experience, your knowledge, your modern technologies,” Walesa said in his appeal for American investment. “Do not let the world and us wait any longer.”

The speech, preceded by a video detailing Solidarity’s struggle against the Polish government, was repeatedly interrupted by standing ovations from delegates. Walesa received a hero’s welcome, entering the huge convention hall to cheers and applause. Scores of delegates reached out to shake his hand as he made his way to the podium.

“We will need your help,” Walesa said through a translator. “You have been unfailing and reliable allies, and we know you will not let us down.”

Walesa and AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland embraced in a bear hug before the speech. Said Kirkland: “This moment is indeed a triumphant one for every trade unionist in America.”

At a news conference after the address, Walesa likened business leaders pondering investment in Poland to Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World.

“We need Columbuses going eastbound,” he said.

Walesa said he welcomed the developments in other Eastern European nations and hailed today’s announcement that Czechoslovakia is liberalizing travel restrictions.

“We want one Europe, we propose one Europe united,” he said. “And it must not be built in the way Hitler and Stalin intended to build it.”

Walesa reacted with anger when asked whether he believed that Poland would again be invaded should East and West Germany reunify.

“I do not believe as long as I am alive and, I believe, as long as you are alive such a situation can repeat itself,” he said.

Earlier, Walesa called for the economic unification of all Europe and for U.S. assistance to make that a reality.

“From economic unity, political unity will emerge,” the Solidarity founder said in an interview on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.”

“Let’s not have any artificial divisions in the 21st Century,” Walesa said through a translator. He said the United States should be looked to for guidance because of its “achievement in freedom.”

Walesa said he was not looking for American handouts to Poland, but rather for U.S. business investment.