Smolensk plane crash made Poland reassess its attitude toward Russia

Casper

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Sep 6, 2010
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If Poland and Russia continue to work constructively on their relations, to build them anew, then, in historical terms, the Smolensk plane crash may be mythologized as more of a positive event in terms of the coming together of these two Slavic peoples in greater mutual understanding.

Valdaiclub.com interview with Alexander Rahr, Director of the Berthold-Beitz-Zentrum, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Question: What prospects do you think there are for Russian-Polish relations considering the political and emotional aftermath of the presidential plane crash at Smolensk?

Answer: I am convinced that the Smolensk plane crash made Poland reassess its attitude toward Russia and that Poland, under its current government at least, is trying to devise a very constructive Eastern policy for Europe. I believe that Poland’s presidency of the European Union, due to begin in six months’ time, will generate new, constructive modes of Russia-EU cooperation. We will not slide back into a Cold War as, but for the Smolensk plane crash, we could have.

Q: Is Poland likely to use its EU presidency to put pressure on Russia over this issue?

A: Poland does not want confrontation with Russia, let alone to involve the whole of Europe in a confrontation like this. Instead, at a recent official dinner in Warsaw the Polish foreign minister said that Poland would attempt to learn from Germany’s experience of how best to bolster constructive and partner-like relations while seeking reconciliation with Russia on historical issues.

Full version of the interview was published on valdaiclub.com
 
Trial begins concerning Smolensk plane crash...

Smolensk tragedy continues to haunt Poland
Wed, 30 Mar 2016 - Six years on from the plane crash that killed the Polish president feelings about who was to blame continue to run high, says Adam Easton.
The plane crash in Smolensk in April 2010 that killed the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and all 95 others on board has returned to the forefront of the country's politics. Some in the opposition are accusing the new government of seeking revenge for the disaster, whose victims also included the heads of the armed forces and the central bank. On Thursday five people involved in the organization of the flight are scheduled to give evidence in the first trial relating to the crash.

Most senior among them is Tomasz Arabski, who in April 2010, led the office of the then prime minister, Donald Tusk, who's now the President of the European Council. Mr Arabski and the others are accused of failing to uphold their obligations as public officials. They face up to three years in prison if convicted. Members of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) camp have said it would be a good idea if Mr Tusk himself was brought before the country's State Tribunal to answer accusations of negligence for his handling of the disaster.

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In April 2010, relations between President Lech Kaczynski, the twin brother of Jaroslaw, who still leads PiS, and Mr Tusk's centre-right government were tetchy and both camps competed to represent Poland abroad. That year marked the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, during which the Soviet secret police murdered more than 21,000 Polish officer prisoners of war, as it attempted to eradicate the country's elite. Instead of Prime Minister Tusk and President Kaczynski jointly heading commemorations in Katyn, near Smolensk, two separate events were arranged.

On 7 April, Mr Tusk landed at Smolensk in clear blue skies to take his place alongside Vladimir Putin in a ceremony to honour the victims, the first time a Russian leader had taken part in such an event. Three days later, in dense fog, President Kaczynski's plane crashed just short of the same former military airport as his delegation made its way to the second ceremony. Representatives of all Poland's political parties were among the victims, but they predominately belonged to the PiS camp.

Personal motivation
 
Granny says, "Dat's right - is all Pootin's fault...
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Polish prosecutors: Russians 'deliberately' caused jet crash
April 3, 2017 -- Poland's top prosecutor charged Monday there is "no doubt" that Russian air traffic controllers deliberately caused a jet carrying Poland's president and nearly 100 others to crash in 2010.
Poland's National Prosecutor Marek Kuczynski made the allegations to reporters in Warsaw one week before the seventh anniversary of the crash of the Polish Air Force jet at a rarely used airport near the city of Smolensk 225 miles southwest of Moscow. On April 10, 2010, the Polish crew tried to land the Tupolev Tu-154 in heavy fog, and it clipped a tree approaching the runway and crashed. A total of 97 died, including top government and military officials and the president's wife. "Previously gathered and new evidence has allowed prosecutors to press new charges against air traffic controllers, Russian citizens and a third person who was also in the control tower, for the crime of intentionally causing an air-travel disaster," Marek Pasionek, deputy head of the national prosecutor's office, said at the news conference.

Polish-prosecutors-Russians-deliberately-caused-jet-crash.jpg

Wreckage of the plane crash site that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 96 others is seen near Smolensk, in western Russia, on April 10, 2010. The plane, carrying his wife and high-ranking military and civilian leaders, crashed as it landed in thick fog. Polish prosecutors alleged Monday that a new analysis shows that two Russian air traffic controllers and a third Russian official in the control tower deliberately contributed to the disaster.​

Separate Polish and Russian investigations found that pilot error was mainly to blame, but Poland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz has said the crash was probably an "assassination." Kuczynski said his findings revealed that two Russian air traffic controllers and a third person in the control tower willingly contributed to the crash. He said Poland wants to question the three Russians. They were guilty of "deliberately causing a catastrophe," Kuczynski said. Early investigations blamed the crew for failing to approach safely after no technical problems were found involving the plane.

In 2015, Poland opened a new investigation after the election of the Law and Justice party, which is led by Jarosław Kachzynski, the twin brother of the late president, Lech Kachzynski. Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the new charges. "The circumstances of this tragedy have been thoroughly studied, and we cannot agree with such conclusions," Peskov said.

Polish prosecutors: Russians 'deliberately' caused jet crash
 
If Poland and Russia continue to work constructively on their relations, to build them anew, then, in historical terms, the Smolensk plane crash may be mythologized as more of a positive event in terms of the coming together of these two Slavic peoples in greater mutual understanding.

Valdaiclub.com interview with Alexander Rahr, Director of the Berthold-Beitz-Zentrum, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Question: What prospects do you think there are for Russian-Polish relations considering the political and emotional aftermath of the presidential plane crash at Smolensk?

Answer: I am convinced that the Smolensk plane crash made Poland reassess its attitude toward Russia and that Poland, under its current government at least, is trying to devise a very constructive Eastern policy for Europe. I believe that Poland’s presidency of the European Union, due to begin in six months’ time, will generate new, constructive modes of Russia-EU cooperation. We will not slide back into a Cold War as, but for the Smolensk plane crash, we could have.

Q: Is Poland likely to use its EU presidency to put pressure on Russia over this issue?

A: Poland does not want confrontation with Russia, let alone to involve the whole of Europe in a confrontation like this. Instead, at a recent official dinner in Warsaw the Polish foreign minister said that Poland would attempt to learn from Germany’s experience of how best to bolster constructive and partner-like relations while seeking reconciliation with Russia on historical issues.

Full version of the interview was published on valdaiclub.com
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