Polish Foreign Ministry summons Russian ambassador over assessments of WW II

Russia’s ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, will be summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry on Monday in connection with his comments on World War II, Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said on Saturday.

"I decided to summon the Russian ambassador on Monday so that the ministry’s representative could do explanations in a conversation with him," he said.

Ambassador Andreyev told Polish TWN24 channel on Friday night the Russian-Polish relations were currently standing at the lowest level since 1945. He blamed Poland for this, saying the Polish government had frozen all the political, cultural and humanitarian contacts.

As he mentioned the causes of World War II, Andreyev recalled that Poland had blocked many a time the setting up of an anti-Hitler coalition during the 1930’s. "That’s why Poland is partly responsible for the disaster, which broke out in September 1939."

"These hurting words flow out of misunderstanding of history and particularly of the degree, to which they are unfair and untruthful," Minister Schetyna said.

The Polish Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming the ambassador’s comment "was damaging Polish-Russian relations."

"We learned with astonishment and alarm the opinion about the causes of World War II, which the Russian Ambassador aired on television," the ministry said in a statement. It claimed the ambassador’s assessments were undermining "historic truth."

"We express a resolute protest over these words by the Russian ambassador," the ministry added.

"We find the assessments provided by the Russian ambassador to be harmful, as they undermine the results of activity of a joint institute called the Polish-Russian Group for Complicated Problems," the statement said.
[tass.ru]
26/9/15
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