President Bronislaw Komorowski. Photo: PAP

In the lead-up to the emotive anniversary of the Smolensk air disaster this Sunday, President Komorowski has championed the merits of reconciliation with Russia.

“The last twenty years have shown that it was not those who threatened who were in the right, but rather those who bettered relations with Germans, Lithuania or Russia,” he said.

Komorowski’s words echo the unread speech that Lech Kaczynski was due to make on the 70th anniversary of the Katyn crime last April.

“As Poles, we appreciate the actions taken by the Russians in the last few years,” Kaczynski wrote for the unread 10 April address.

“We should proceed along the road that is bringing our two nations closer to one another.”

On 11 August, Komorowski will meet President Medvedev at Katyn, marking the first time that the heads of state of both Poland and Russia have been present together at this site so inextricably linked with the WWII martyrdom of Poland’s elite.

Yesterday, Russian handed over to Poland 11 more files from the 1990-2004 investigation into the crime that exterminated over 22,000 Poles.

Poland is now in possession of 148 copies of the 183 investigation files, following successive waves of declassification. A large portion was fast-tracked following the Smolensk air tragedy last April.

However, some voices in both Russia and Poland believe that the process could be swifter.

“And why haven’t all the files been declassified and sent,” said Nikita Pitrov, an historian who works for Russia’s human rights group Memorial.

Pitrov noted that in January, President Medvedev had promised to declassify all of the remaining files.

“We will strive to disclose the full truth about Katyn,” Komorowski said today, promising “ full rehabilitation of the victims,”alluding to the fact that in Russia, the executed Poles have technically yet to be fully cleared of smears against them.

Komorowski added that he was “pleased” to reveal that President Medvedev had signed an agreement for a future centre of Polish-Russian dialogue. (nh/jb)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza/Rzeczpospolita