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Poland in talks with Russia on Smolensk visit: senior official

26.02.2020 14:00
The head of the Polish prime minister’s office said on Wednesday that Poland is in talks with Moscow on organizing commemorations in western Russia to mark 10 years since an air crash which killed the Polish president and 95 others.
Michał Dworczyk, the head of the Polish prime ministers office.
Michał Dworczyk, the head of the Polish prime minister's office.PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Michał Dworczyk said that the government was “conducting a dialogue with the Russian authorities.”

“We are considering the possibilities on the basis of current information," he added, as quoted by Polish state news agency PAP.

PAP reported that Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday it was ready to assist Poland in organising the visit on April 10.

According to the news agency, the Russian foreign ministry added it was surprised that Poland "could have thought" that Moscow would thwart the commemorations.

Earlier this month, 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