During his farewell press conference last Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin promised that his country would aim its rockets at Poland if it went ahead with the US anti-missile project.
Review by Aleskander Kropiwnicki
No news, another boring speech, indeed, writes a columnist of the POLSKA daily. The mood in Russia will change a bit under a new president, and there is no doubt that his name is Dmitry Medvedyev. He doesn’t seem to be as patronizing as Mr Putin. He’s rather the ‘quiet official’ type. The end of Putin’s term, though, doesn’t mean the end of hypocrisy in the contemporary world. Vladimir Putin has been popular among politicians and journalists. He’s been found sexy and trendy. His authoritarian way of governing the state, (allegedly) murdering inconvenient journalists and massacre in Chechnya haven’t disturbed the world too much. In our times there are organizations defending both human rights and rights of animals but genocide can be forgiven. Mr Putin is leaving his post but hypocrisy is still doing well. See you in Beijing this summer, says the columnist.
If Prime Minister Donald Tusk didn’t change the direction of Poland’s foreign policy so quickly and apparently without consideration, he wouldn’t have to accept humiliating lessons from both Vladimir Putin and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, writes a columnist of RZECZPOSPOLITA. Germany and Russia have shown that Poland cannot expect concessions from its two big neighbors. The Russian-German project of the Baltic gas-pipeline is not to be cancelled. Berlin will not give up its new Center commemorating Germans expelled from Poland after the World War 2. Moscow is not to accept situating the American anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Now Mr. Tusk will have no choice but to continue foreign policy of his predecessors. Did he really need this painful experience, asks the columnist.
The European Union is ready to recognize Kosovo as an independent state. It’s a mistake, claims a columnist of DZIENNIK. Kosovo will not be a normal state. According to some observers, that country is dominated by organized crime. Also, recognizing Kosovo will be an offense to Serbia. As a result, Belgrade will get even closer to Moscow. Kosovo plays a significant role in Serbian history. The whole nation finds this small territory its real homeland. Perhaps, before giving the Albanians from Kosovo the green light to proclaim independence, the EU should have changed the country’s borders? Serbia would have received territories inhabited by the Serbian minority and full of historic monuments. Nothing like that has happened. Serbia will be humiliated and the EU faces years of diplomatic trouble connected with Kosovo, writes the columnist.