Lech Walesa, the co-founder of the legendary Solidarnosc movement, born in the shipyards where he once worked, thinks the EU is right in demanding an end to state subsidy for Polish dockyards, a move that is likely to bring the yards to their knees.

His comments come as talks between Warsaw and the European Commission on a restructuring plan failed yet again, increasing the uncertainty over the future of Poland's historic shipyards.

Besides the economic dimension, in fact, the shipyards carry strong emotive attachment for the Poles, having been the place where the anti-communist movement took off, eventually toppling the Soviet government.

Mr Walesa, now 65, was a protagonist in that strife. Thirty odd years on, he speaks as the former President of a country firmly aligned to democracy and a member of the European Union.

"The European Union thinks that we have had enough time, that we have been delaying things. I'm sorry to say that I agree with that point of view," he said yesterday. True to his reputation as a frank politician, he adds: "I also look at myself and blame myself for this delay. I didn't work fast enough either."

Mr Walesa is here to deliver a talk - The Future Of Europe - Unity And Solidarity - on the 25th anniversary of his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Of course, he is not happy about the possible closure of any of the yards. "I don't like the idea of the possible outcome of that stand because I myself used to work there and would like to save them. But I can understand their point of view."

The story there is similar to that of the yards in Malta and is very much linked to problems with productivity. However, Polish yards have also had to face the consequences of the regime change.

The upheaval that was ushered in by the collapse of the Soviet system actually caused the collapse of most of the country's economic potential and, with the suppliers who furnished the yards with raw materials, products and services gone, the yards were left without the parts they need.

"This is a major challenge with which we are faced," he acknowledges. "We lost markets, we lost cooperation partners and now we have been restructuring and rebuilding our economy so we need some time to rebuild our shipyards until they can stand on their feet."

But time is precisely what the EU seems unwilling to concede? Hardly a mark of solidarity, in the circumstances?

"The European Union is right in what it is doing," he insists. "It's true that we cannot go for ever giving more sums of money to one specific group of people because if you give to one group of people you have to deprive another. And, actually, it has been going on for quite a while... a surprising amount of time in which taxpayers have been paying to help the shipyards."

Despite his commitment, his endorsement of free market is not unconditional. "The capitalist system functioned more or less well when it had communism. Now that communism is gone you can see that it is a very bad system. We haven't invented the third way, because certainly the capitalism we have today is not going to be sustainable in the 21st century. The current credit crisis is a symptom of this," he points out.

There is general consensus that the free market is needed but, for the rest, the world needs to think long and hard and a reform from the roots, he adds, keenly pointing out that he is not referring to the kind of revolution he was involved in.

Bringing his Catholic roots to bear, he turns to a biblical story to amplify the point. "We are faced with a similar situation which Moses faced when he brought the Israeli people out of slavery. We also broke from the slavery of communism... from the slavery of being trapped between two antagonistic blocs and now the challenge is whether we can improve on Moses's methods because he did not really try to reform the Israeli people but he led them throughout the wilderness for 40 years and the generation that was faulty died out," he says animatedly.

"Now we don't have Moses and we don't have a wilderness big enough for the world to lead all the people through it," he adds before pointing out that he likes to visit places like Malta to find different solutions to the open-endedness of today's problems.

"Maybe you have some ideas worth looking into. In places like Malta you can come across some brilliant ideas... It is true, particularly in countries which are not listened to that often. Because the big-headed, self-confident empires neglect us, you, and other such countries."

Mr Walesa's public talk will be held at the seat of The Strickland Foundation in Villa Parisio, Lija, today at 7 p.m.