Translated material
Arguments and pacts
The Russian Prime Minister outlined his version of the reasons for the outbreak of World War II
Today's speech by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the commemorative celebrations in Gdansk on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War will perhaps be a key event for the future of Russian-Polish relations. Not only the normalization of bilateral contacts, but also the general climate in relations between Russia and the states of Eastern Europe, which made the history of the 20th century one of the favorite testing grounds for sorting out relations with Moscow, depends to a large extent on how Poles perceive the words of the head of the Russian government addressed to them.Vladimir Putin invites the Poles to follow the example of Russian-German reconciliation. However, Poland continues to insist on its interpretation of the beginning of the Second World War, which places on the USSR, in fact, equal responsibility with Germany for the attack on their country.
The day before, Vladimir Putin, in an article published in the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza, “Pages of history – a reason for mutual claims or a basis for reconciliation and partnership?” gave direct answers to questions clouding the relationship between Moscow and Warsaw. “The people of Russia, whose fate was distorted by the totalitarian regime, also well understand the heightened feelings of the Poles associated with Katyn, where thousands of Polish soldiers are buried. We must together preserve the memory of the victims of this crime,” Vladimir Putin emphasized, adding that “the Katyn and Mednoe memorials, as well as the tragic fate of Russian soldiers taken prisoner by Poland during the 1920 war, should become symbols common grief and mutual forgiveness."
As for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (in this context, together with the notorious secret protocols) of August 23, 1939, the head of the Russian government called it “immoral.” At the same time, he urged not to forget about other facts of the prehistory of the Second World War, in particular about the division of Czechoslovakia in 1938: “It was the agreement in Munich (an agreement with Hitler and his fascist ally, Prime Minister of Italy Mussolini on the division of Czechoslovakia, signed by the Prime Minister -Ministers of Great Britain and France Chamberlain and Daladier. - Ed. ) pushed towards the disunity of objective allies in the fight against Nazism, causing mutual distrust and suspicion between them.” “Didn’t the borders in Europe begin to crumble much earlier than September 1, 1939? And there was no Anschluss of Austria, there was no torn Czechoslovakia, when not only Germany, but also Hungary and Poland, in fact, took part in the territorial redistribution of Europe? Day after day with the conclusion of the Munich agreement, Poland sent its ultimatum to Czechoslovakia and, simultaneously with German troops, sent its army into the Cieszyn and Fristadt regions,” Vladimir Putin recalled.
The Russian Prime Minister emphasized that for the peoples of the Soviet Union, Poland and many other countries, the Second World War “was a war for life, for the right to have their own culture, language, and future itself.” That is why, in his words, “the shadows of the past can no longer darken today, and especially tomorrow, cooperation between Russia and Poland.”
“Our duty to those who have passed on, to history itself, is to do everything to rid Russian-Polish relations of the burden of mistrust and prejudice that we inherited. Turn the page and start writing a new one,” Putin believes. “The post-war historical reconciliation of France and Germany opened the way to the creation of the European Union,” he recalled. “In turn, the wisdom and generosity of the Russian and German people, the foresight of the statesmen of the two countries made it possible to take a decisive step towards the construction of a Greater Europe.”
According to Mr. Putin, “the partnership between Russia and Germany has become an example of moving towards each other, striving for the future while respecting the memory of the past.” “I am sure that Russian-Polish relations will sooner or later reach such a high, truly partnership level. This is in the interests of our peoples, the entire European continent,” the head of the Russian government summed up his thoughts.
Vladimir Putin’s article is “an important and wise fact not only in Polish-Russian relations, but also in global politics,” this is how his former Polish colleague, and now the leader of the Polish Left party, Leszek Miller, commented on the words of the Russian Prime Minister. He is confident that Putin extended a friendly hand to the Poles. “If our leaders reject this outstretched hand, then Poland will again receive the stigma of known Russophobes, which will confirm the thesis “you can’t talk normally about world politics with Warsaw,” says Mr. Miller.
In Poland, statements by Russian representatives that Warsaw, on the eve of the war, was actually an ally of Hitler and participated in the division of Czechoslovakia, invariably cause great resonance. Official Warsaw and, judging by the latest poll in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, the majority of Poles consider the USSR to be the same aggressor as fascist Germany. In local newspapers you can read that Poles will now celebrate the 70th anniversary of the attack by Germany and the USSR on Poland, and the country was liberated from “Soviet occupation” only 20 years ago.
Even irreconcilable political opponents - Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Lech Kaczynski - agreed on this basis. “During the ceremony in Gdańsk-Westerplatte, together with President Kaczynski, we will present the Polish point of view, regardless of whether anyone likes it or not. There will be no doubt who was the executioner and who the victim,” Mr. Tusk said the other day. The opposition demands that the prime minister “not follow the Kremlin’s lead and not feel like a submissive younger brother.”
But other voices are also heard. Leszek Miller reminded Donald Tusk that back on April 13, 1990, during the visit of Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski to the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev was the first Soviet leader to reveal the truth about Katyn and admit that the execution of interned Polish officers in 1940 was carried out by the NKVD. The first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, also apologized for Katyn when he was in Warsaw in August 1993, having previously sent copies of the materials on the “Katyn case” to President Lech Walesa. “Does Tusk expect Putin to refute Gorbachev’s words? And if not that, then why ruffle feathers and increase tension?” asks Leszek Miller.
The former head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, co-chairman of the Polish-Russian group on complex issues, Professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld, called Vremya Novostey positive “the very fact that Prime Minister Putin decided to take part in the event dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War.” The expert called for “taking into account the background of the Russian prime minister’s visit” and “different interpretations of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact and what happened three weeks later, on September 17, 1939, when Soviet troops entered Polish territory according to the borders stipulated by this treaty.”
“This is a difficult issue for all politicians. But a strong politician can just use the chance to say something extraordinary that a weak one would not have the courage to do. I believe that Putin’s visit will be important,” Mr. Rotfeld emphasized. In his opinion, “often a word spoken at the right time is of much greater importance than some treaties and political declarations.” “In addition, it is important that in addition to the symbolic side of Vladimir Putin’s visit, there is also its business part - Polish-Russian government negotiations,” noted Vremya Novostey’s interlocutor, adding that he sees in this “a creative logic that begins to manifest itself in Russian-Polish relations.”
Vladimir Putin arrived in Gdansk yesterday evening. The solemn event itself will take place today on the shore of the Gdansk Bay, at the monument to the heroes of Westerplatte. In addition to the Russian Prime Minister, distinguished guests include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, heads of government of the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Holland, the Czech Republic and Serbia. In total, high-ranking delegations from 25 states are expected. The largest landing party is Russian, numbering about 150 people. In addition to the historical points of the program, Russian-Polish government negotiations are expected. The Russian delegation completely occupied the most elegant building in Sopot - the Grand Hotel. Unlike the other invited guests, who are allocated a special bus, Vladimir Putin and his entourage will travel in limousines delivered several days earlier.
The biggest disappointment for the organizers was the low level of representation of the American delegation. When the illusory nature of President Barack Obama's visit to Westerplatte became clear, Polish media reported that the White House was allegedly making a choice between Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As a result, 81-year-old businessman William Perry, who served as Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, was entrusted with representing the United States in Gdansk. In Warsaw, they pressed the diplomatic pedal with all their might to ensure that at least someone from the current administration took part in the event. And two days before the ceremony, Washington elevated the rank of representative to the president's national security adviser, retired general James Jones. This gave rise to the same “Gazeta Wyborcza” calling for people to remember today’s date well - but not as the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, but as a symbolic day of the end of the Polish-American historical novel.