Document No. 86: Protocol No. 166 of CC CPSU Politburo Session, September 28, 1989

This document reflects the first in-depth Soviet Politburo discussion of Poland after the June elections and the Mazowiecki government’s accession to power in August. The report to the Politburo prepared by Shevardnadze, Yakovlev, Yazov, and Kryuchkov opens with a blunt statement that the Polish “situation is unprecedented for a socialist country—the ruling communist party was not able to convincingly carry the parliamentary vote and had to yield to the opposition the right to form a governme..