Over the past week or so, Putin has mentioned Poland and its wartime history five times at key meetings, according to the British public broadcaster.
While attending a defence ministry board meeting on Tuesday, the Russian leader, “in an unusual outburst,” described the Polish ambassador to Nazi Germany as "scum and an anti-Semite pig," the BBC reported on its website.
Two hours later, Putin brought the subject up again at a meeting with parliamentary leaders, according to the BBC.
The following day, during a meeting with businesspeople, Putin "surprised everyone with how deeply he was immersed in historical materials relating to the start of World War II and Poland's positions," the BBC reported, citing the Russian edition of Forbes magazine.
The Russian president has also announced plans to write an article about Poland’s role in World War II, according to the bbc.com website.
The British public broadcaster said Putin's “sudden interest” and criticism of Poland follows a European Parliament resolution that blamed both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany for the outbreak of the war more than 80 years ago.
European lawmakers in September passed a resolution condemning a secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that opened the door to those countries invading Poland in 1939 and paved the way to the horrors of World War II.
The BBC reported that the Soviet Union has frequently been accused of carving up Poland together with Nazi Germany under its pact of non-aggression with Hitler, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Even though the Soviet Union does not exist anymore, its victory in World War II is “one of the most venerated pillars of state ideology” and is still celebrated in Russia “with much fanfare and bombast every year,” the BBC said.
It noted that Poland’s foreign ministry has countered Putin’s accusations in a statement, by describing them as “false narratives.”
(gs)
Source: rp.pl, bbc.com