Posted on April 20, 2010 - by Venik
Why Russia and Poland Will Never be Friends
You probably heard the story by now: a plane full of Polish russophobes flew into a tree in Russia. Too bad Dante is dead: a lot of good material for a Commedia sequel. There is a veritable flurry of news reports and editorials predicting an epic thaw in relations between Russia and Poland. A brief improvement in relations is likely, now that Lech Kachinsky and the rest of his Russia-hating cohort are dead. But nothing really changed: Russia still has its ambitions and Poland – its delusions.
President Kachinsky was heading to Russia in hopes of getting something resembling an apology for the Katyn massacre from people who had nothing to do with it. The shootings were ordered by Stalin and carried out by its chief of secret police Beria – both were Georgians. It would have made more sense for Kachinsky to fly to Tbilisi instead and get an apology from his good friend Mikheil. Also, there are far fewer trees around the Tbilisi airport, which is always a plus.
The outpouring of emotion in Russia is a clear indication of plummeting interest in foreign affairs among Russian citizens. Needless to say, if any of the Russian newspapers decided to publish a couple of pages of some of the highlights from Kachinsky’s speeches about Russia, the public reaction in Russia to the untimely demise of Poland’s fearless leader might have been a bit more subdued.
The past twenty years of Polish foreign policy were founded in vicious russophobia. Those times might have come to an end with a bang and both sides will scale down the rhetoric a bit. But let’s not be naive and think that centuries-long animosity between Poland and Russia and countless attempts to subjugate each other will end just as abruptly. Poland is mourning its president and Russia is trying to be magnanimous, but these are just emotions and they will pass soon enough.
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