Wiesbaden, Germany - Former Polish president Lech Walesa told a roomful of German journalists Monday he had no regrets about his part in bringing down the communists 20 years ago.

"If I had to re-live it, I'd do the same things all over again," he said in the central German city of Wiesbaden as he described Poland's Round Table discussions between the Solidarity trade union and the communists which began in April 1989.

Walesa, who was to attend an elder statesmen's function in Berlin on Tuesday marking 20 years since the fall of communism, repeatedly voiced his debt to the late Pope John Paul II (1920-2005).

He said John Paul helped fellow-Poles defend their values against the threat of communism, and added that he perceived the future of Europe as a marrying of Christian values with modern technology.

Walesa, a former trade unionist, was Poland's president and won the Nobel Peace Prize for achieving the bloodless changeover. (dpa)