putin embraces Poles....


breaking news BBC


happy relations now Russia N Poland


wow


everything is fixed



go back to sleep poles




[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

Russia-Poland thaw grows from tragedy

Russian-Polish relations have often been difficult, but Moscow's dignified handling of the aftermath of the tragic plane crash which killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski has been well received by Poles.

Poles have been somewhat taken aback by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision to personally oversee the investigation of the crash which killed all 96 people on board, tearing a hole in the Polish political, military and social elite.

The image of Mr Putin giving his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, a hug amid the debris of the wreckage has been replayed many times on Poland's news channels.

Hours later Mr Putin was back at Smolensk airport, head bowed, as he bade farewell to Mr Kaczynski's coffin before it was flown back to Warsaw.

Newspapers reprinted the text of President Dmitry Medvedev's televised address to Poles and noted Moscow's preparations to accommodate the families of the victims as they arrived in the city to carry out the gruesome task of helping to identify their loved ones.

"It's a paradox but the tragedy in Smolensk is a chance to connect our nations like never before," Marcin Wojciechowski wrote in a column in the leading daily, Gazeta Wyborzca.

"Russia's behaviour after the tragedy in Smolensk totally contradicts the thesis of those who claim that closer relations between Russia and Poland are impossible," he said.