Mariusz Blaszczak

The Law and Justice opposition party have criticised this week’s visit of President Medvedev to Poland, claiming he has made empty promises on cooperation on the Smolensk plane disaster.

Mariusz Blaszczak, who leads the party in parliament, says that the agreement signed by Russian and Polish attorney generals yesterday to give Poland full access to the investigation in Moscow into the April Smolensk plane disaster is meaningless, as the Russian side has been “promising this for several months” already but to little effect.

On trade agreements between the two countries, Blaszczak told Polish Radio this morning that Poland still has a negative trade balance with Russia.

Law and Justice, the largest opposition party in parliament, also criticised the recently agreed gas deal with Gazprom, saying that it will only prolong Poland’s dependency on Russian energy.

President Medvedev left Warsaw this morning after laying a wreath at the Soviet cemetery. In meetings with President Komorowski and Prime Minister Tusk, both sides expressed the desire to open new chapters in bi-lateral relations. (pg)