Most importantly and most recently is the commemorations of the outbreak of World War II that took place at Westerplatte yesterday. While Germany was the main aggressor in that war, most of the media attention was focused on Polish-Russian relations, which were strained even further in the run-up to the ceremonies by the publication of some scurrilous historical claims that had been widely publicized in the Russian media. The most outrageous of these was the idea that Russia was forced into the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact due to suspicions that Poland was set to cooperate with Germany to overtake Russia. Russian historians claimed that Poland a secret agreement to this effect was contained within Poland's non-aggression pact with Germany in 1934. The historians offered zero proof. (Historian Norman Davies has written an excellent article exploring all of this for Britain's The Independent. click here to read it.)
Such historical revisionism is typical for the Russian government and media, so that was no surprise. But everyone was waiting with baited breath to see how the meeting between Russian PM Vladimir Putin and Polish counterpart Donald Tusk would go. Would Putin give credence to these historical revisions? Would he criticize Poland for being “anti-Russian”? Or would he apologize for the Soviet Union's invading of Poland two weeks after the Nazis did, as most Poles would have liked him to?
The answer, of course, was none of the above. By all accounts the meeting between Putin and Tusk was civil. Both expressed a willingness to move forward, to increase future partnership. While dissatisfying for Poles, it is a good move. Poland gains nothing from being at constant odds with Russia. And despite his government's oftentimes anti-Polish rhetoric (and actions), Putin made the right decision too – Poland is one of Russia's biggest trading partners, and Polish opposition to Russia's energy plans in Western Europe could give it headaches. Russia also gains from positive relations with Poland.
Shame on you, Mr. Obama...
All of this leaves one wondering about where Poland's supposedly close partnership with the United States stands in all of this. US President Barack Obama was not present at the ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, a huge and regrettable snub for one of the US's closest allies. With the US already considering pulling out of the missile shield agreement, there rumblings in Warsaw are that the government is getting tired of putting more in to the relationship that it gets out. Mr. Obama certainly has a lot on his plate on both the domestic and international fronts, but what could be so important that he couldn't attend a ceremony marking the beginning of what was arguably the most significant war in the history of the world? Heads of governments from Germany, Russia and Italy were there. Other notable absences included Britain's Gordon Brown and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US was represented by National Security Adviser James Jones. Were the ceremonies so unimportant that Mr. Obama couldn't even have sent Secretary of State Hilary Clinton?
Economic news
There has been plenty recently on the macroeconomic front – almost all good. Exports are keeping the economy afloat and while domestic demand and investment are slowing, private consumption remains strong. Analysts are divided as to what this means – some say that Poland is out of the woods, while others expect unemployment – always a lagging indicator – to grow in coming quarters, and thus cool private consumption. For more have a look at our “Economy” section – we're covering developments extensively as more data comes out.
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