Putin 'must end attacks on Poles'

[emad]

Poland's president has called on his Russian counterpart to try to end a spate of anti-Polish violence on the streets of Moscow.

Alexander Kwasniewski appealed to Vladimir Putin hours after a Polish journalist in Moscow was attacked.

He urged Mr Putin and the Russian authorities to punish the attackers, who he said were creating harmful tensions between Russia and Poland.

Two Polish diplomats have also been beaten up in Moscow in the past week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4144288.stm

[Pawel K]

1. I'm originally from Poland

I haven't been there since I was a little kid but I always remember tension between them and Russia & Germany. Hopefully this doesn't get any worse than it has to.

[moodforaday]

2. It's not at all clear Putin is behind this

He may be, but the attacks may just as well be the work of one of the nationalist factions, esp. Belarussian. Lukashenko has been cracking down heavily on Polish minority in Belarus, intimidating and jailing activists, throwing journalists and diplomats out of the country.

[emad]

4. Czesc Pawel K. Russian/Polish enmity goes back to before

the days of the flood.....

I think it all started over an argument about who first invented Wodka....

[Pawel K]

7. Damn Polaks and their Wodka

Czesc Emad.

I remember there always being resentment from the Germans to Polaks and similar with Russians but I never heard of it turning violent.

I really do need to brush up on my Polish history though, I am clueless.

[Igel]

3. What to say? Russia hasn't changed since the 1700s, has it?

Poland is still part of their territory, in some part of the collective psyche.

Seriously, awarding Jaruzelski a medal on VE-day was a very stupid thing to do. Praising a long list of those that fought the Nazis in WWII ... even German partisans! ... and ignoring pretty much only the Polish resistance at home and abroad was also a rather odd thing to do. Saying any of the Warsaw Pact or constituent republics of the USSR had independent legislatures and could have voted to separate peacefully had they wanted to--they didn't, so must not have wanted to--is also a rather obnoxious thing. And, when asked if Russia will apologize, responding, instead, that Russia should be thanked ...

A lot of these things are just offensive to large groups of people. Others seem to single out the Poles.

[frankieT]

5. i think you're right overall but

may i add that poland and polish people don't need the russians to single out themselves, they have a very strong identity and proud of it. at some point, they'll develop the same kind of relationships with western european countries.

[Igel]

6. That they do.

But it's offensive to have everybody else praised--even the German partisans--while your particular partisan force is ignored.

Of course, Poles at the time noted wryly that since the Russians had agreed with the Germans to partition the country, with the Germans and Russians each taking half, any praise the Russians might have for Polish partisans would be awkward at best.

The rest of what the Russians did just pissed them off. Polish tv in May was, at times a bit over the top (esp. the Sejm), but even Poles I talked to were a bit irate.

Most of the economic ties I saw when I was there were with other outliers in the EU: the countries in the neighborhood that are waiting for integration have become fairly well integrated in terms of trade relations. It'll be interesting to see what kind of a bloc they form when the EU finally drops the barriers.

[mitchtv]

8. And I call on Poland to stop attacks

on Gays. Punish the attackers.

[Endangered Specie]

9. poor Poland. Nazis, Communists, Bush...

how much can one country take!