Bronislaw Geremek, former anti-communist dissident and former Foreign minister of Poland, died in a car crash in Western Poland on Sunday, BBC reports. Aged 76, Geremek was one of the leaders of the Polish Solidarity movement and a key ally for Lech Walesa in bringing the Polish communist regime to its end.

Geremek served as Foreign minister in 1997-2000, a period when his country became a member of NATO. He'd served as member of the European Parliament for the Reform Party since 2004.