WARSAW, Poland - Once a political prisoner jailed for his radical anti-communist views, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, who is tipped to win a second term in elections starting Sunday, has evolved into a fatherly consensus-oriented figure.
The 62-year-old former defence minister admits to having mellowed over the years -- except on national security, where he is seen as a hawk.
"We want peace, but we know that weakness is the greatest encouragement for a potential aggressor and there is no better deterrent than a show of force and determination in self-defence," Komorowski, a historian, said days ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on May 8.
The one-time wild game hunter has been a key player in the modernisation of Poland's defence forces since the country of 38 million shed communism along with the Warsaw Pact in 1989 and joined NATO a decade later.
The father of five, who is a practising Catholic, has also risked the wrath of Poland's powerful Catholic Church by supporting legislation allowing test tube babies and a global human rights convention addressing violence against women.
The church sees both measures as undermining traditional family values.
AFP
