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No response from Russia yet on Smolensk anniversary: Polish official

18.02.2020 13:05
A spokesman for the government in Warsaw said on Tuesday Moscow has not yet replied after Poland said it wanted to take part in commemorations in western Russia to mark 10 years since an air crash which killed the Polish president and 95 others.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mller.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller.PAP/Paweł Supernak

When asked who would fly to Smolensk, government spokesman Piotr Müller said that "the first decisions belong to the president and then to the prime minister."

Last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he wanted to make a trip to Smolensk, western Russia, in April.

Morawiecki also said he wanted to visit the nearby Katyn forest to commemorate the victims of a 1940 massacre of Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviets.

April 10, 2020 will mark exactly 10 years since a Polish plane carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 others, including top political and military figures, crashed near Smolensk, killing all those on board.

The Polish officials had been on their way to commemorate some 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intellectuals who were killed in the spring of 1940 on orders from top Soviet authorities in what is known as the Katyn Massacre.

(jh)

Source: PAP