Buzek, Jerzy Karol (1940– )

Polish politician, prime minister of Poland from 1997. A chemical-engineering professor and a veteran trade-union activist, he was named prime minister of a new centre–right coalition in October 1997, after the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) emerged victorious in general elections. Outlining his new government's programme, he promised to push for rapid integration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), to cut bureaucracy, decentralize finances, and expedite privatization plans.

Buzek joined Solidarity at its birth in 1980, chaired its first, fourth, fifth, and sixth national congresses and was an elected deputy to the Sejm (parliament). He participated in Solidarity's underground leadership after the movement was outlawed, and was an activist of the union's regional and national leadership. As co-author of the AWS economic programme, the mild-mannered Buzek emerged as the ideal candidate to lead the coalition government formed in 1997 by the AWS and the pro-business Freedom Union (UW).

Born in Silesia, Buzek, a Protestant, was a scientific researcher and professor at the Chemical Engineering Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gliwice.