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Putin pursuing ‘dangerous narrative campaign’ against Poland: deputy FM

30.12.2019 08:25
Russia's President Vladimir Putin is pursuing a "dangerous narrative campaign" against Poland, a deputy foreign minister in Warsaw has said amid a row over World War II history.
Audio
  • Putin pursuing ‘dangerous narrative campaign’ against Poland: deputy FM
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel SękPhoto: Polish Radio 24/MS

Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk was speaking after the Polish foreign ministry at the end of last week summoned Russia’s ambassador to Warsaw for urgent talks following a series of claims made by Putin about Poland’s role in World War II.

Putin last week reportedly suggested that Poland was partly responsible for the outbreak of World War II and claimed that the Soviet Union helped “save lives” after it invaded Poland in 1939 following a pact with Nazi Germany.

In another statement, Putin described the Polish ambassador to Nazi Germany, Józef Lipski, as "scum and an anti-Semite pig," British public broadcaster BBC has reported.

Meanwhile, Russian parliamentary Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has reportedly accused Poland of collaborating with Nazi Germany 80 years ago; he demanded an apology from Warsaw, according to the BBC.

Szynkowski vel Sęk said on Saturday that top Russian officials have launched “an unprecedented narrative attack” on Poland, and added that “this narrative campaign is extremely dangerous and must be met with strong resistance, and not only from Poland,'' state news agency PAP has reported.

"This is an attack that has all the hallmarks of reviving a Stalinist historical narrative, which is deceitful in the context of commonly known facts about the outbreak of World War II,” Szynkowski vel Sęk told public broadcaster Polish Radio on Saturday.

He added that allegations of anti-Semitism were offensive to Poland.

“They are simply vile and we cannot agree to such narratives," Szynkowski vel Sęk said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a statement on Sunday that Russia’s Putin “has lied about Poland on numerous occasions, and he has always done it deliberately.”

‘Historical revisionism on steroids’

Meanwhile, David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), has dismissed Putin’s claims as “historical revisionism on steroids.”

He said in a tweet that “Nazi Germany, not Poland, is responsible for WW2.”

Harris added that the Soviet rule of Eastern Europe after World War II “only extended the era of oppression.”

(gs)

Source: PAP

Click on the audio icon above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Tomasz Ferenc.