Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to blackmail Poland “by implying that if Poland is not subservient to Russia and Germany, it may sooner or later be dismembered by both,” the country’s deputy culture minister has claimed.
Jarosław Sellin accused the Russian leader of intentionally calling into question Poland’s existing borders and claiming that they are the subject of a Russian-German agreement.
Speaking on the Polish public TVP Info news channel, Sellin commented on Vladimir Putin’s assertion that “Poland owes its current borders to Stalin’s generosity,” and noted that there are German politicians who refer to the former Eastern Germany as “middle Germany,” meaning that there are other German lands in Pomerania and Silesia.
The Polish deputy culture minister stated his belief that Russia is irritated by the fact that Poland is standing up to Russian imperialism. He also observed that Germany and Russia, even today, behave as if they are still neighbors in the nineteenth century.
“Russia has been consistent in trying to reaffirm such sentiments, but at least Germany is beginning to understand it has been played,” argued Sellin.
The minister was critical of the role opposition leader Donald Tusk played in the reset with Russia during his term as Polish prime minister back in the 2000s. According to Sellin, Tusk crossed a red line by deliberately undermining President Lech Kaczyński and allying himself with the Russians against the deceased head of state.
Sellin claimed that Tusk never accepted his election defeat in 2005 and that it was psychologically important for Tusk “to get back at Lech Kaczyński.” Lech Kaczyński and 95 others were killed in a plane crash while traveling to Smolensk in April 2010; Tusk had taken a separate flight at the invitation of Putin just a few days before.
TVP Info recently broadcast a documentary series on Poland’s relations with Russia, especially during the years when Donald Tusk was prime minister. The series, called “Reset,” examined thousands of documents concerning decisions made on Polish-Russian relations.
