Magdalena Merta, the widow of the former deputy minister of culture Tomasz Merta who died in the 2010 Smoleńsk plane crash in Russia, appealed to government officials not to travel to Smoleńsk and Katyń for the 10th anniversary of the plane catastrophe that killed dozens of Poland’s intellectual, military and political elite.
She argued that Russia has openly declared its aggressive and adversarial stance towards Poland, and she did not want politicians to risk the journey, saying she fears for their safety.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared this week that he will “travel to Smoleńsk and Katyń to honor the victims of the terrifying Soviet murders in the Katyń woods and honor the victims of the Smoleńsk catastrophe.”
“Whatever Russia would do to Poland, it will remain unpunished and no one will care about it, because there will be more important interests than the next death of a Polish delegation,” Merta emphasized, saying that she fears Russia will assassinate Poland’s top officials.
She believed that she was not the only one who thought that a visit to Russia was “asking for trouble”.
