Poland’s foreign minister has said the nation should knock down its socialist realist symbol, the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

Radek Sikorski says Warsaw should tear down the Palace of Science and Culture – a gift from Stalin in the 1950s - which still dominates the Warsaw skyline, just as Germans destroyed the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

In Sikorski’s opinion, the Palace of Science and Culture is a symbol of communism. Therefore, its demolition should also be symbolic, as was in case with the Russian Orthodox Church in Warsaw, which was demolished when Poland regained independence in 1918 after 120 years of partition.   

The Foreign Minister claims that the building is eco-unfriendly. It consumes vast amounts of energy and money and will consume even more as it needs a general overhaul. Sikorski suggests that a park, where Varsovians could relax and organize picnics, should replace the giant Stalinist building in the centre of Warsaw.  

The foreign minister’s dream to get rid of the palace, will not be so easily fulfilled, however, as it is a listed building, as is the Wawel Castle in Krakow and the castle of Teutonic Knights in Malbork. (mg)