“Is America pro-Russian because they sent congratualtions to Putin when he became president?,” Kornel Morawiecki asked during an interview for Polska The Times. “Are France and Hungary pro-Russian for doing the same? Why didn’t we?” He called this a “lack of diplomatic behavior.”
Morawiecki further criticized the mutual distrust between Poles and Russians. He accused the Russian and Polish governments of promoting these negative perceptions. “It’s the Polish government, elites and media which do everything they can to pit Poles against Russians and it’s the Russian government, elites and media which do everything they can to pit Russians against Poles,” he said.
The politician called for friendship with the Russian nation and for a symmetry which would lead to improving relations but not to another moment in history in which “we’ll be at each other’s throats.”
It’s the Polish government, elites and media which do everything they can to pit Poles against Russians and it’s the Russian government, elites and media which do everything they can to pit Russians against Poles
He agreed with the Polish PM that Russia wants to subjugate Poland but he questioned why Poland can’t propose policies not based on confrontation? An example is the constructions of the Yamal pipeline. “Why did we refuse, when Russia proposed to build the Yamal pipeline, a second thread through Belarus and Poland, because we wanted it built through Ukraine?,” he asked. He deemed it absurd because, simply, the shortest way was through Belarus.
He also referred to his idea of connecting Russia with the European Union. “This is a serious civilizational proposal,” he pointed out. If the EU were to include Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, then “a billion populated Europe would be able to compete with China, India, the Arabic countries, America and Africa.”
Morawiecki said that he saw Poland, which is in the heart of Europe, as a natural bridge between West and East and that Poland should be fulfilling that role.
