On April 10, 2010, the Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed in a tragic plane accident near Smolensk, Russia along with other 95 people.
Lech Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. The Polish President was going to the small town of Katyn in Russia to mark 70 years since the Katyn massacre where in the Second World War the Soviet secret police shoot dead more than 20,000 Polish prisoners of war mainly form the political, cultural and military elite. The occasion was also an attempt to improve the variable Russian-Polish relationship.
This tragedy virtually left Poland without many of its most important persons in the state. The victims of the crash include Aleksander Szczyglo, the head of National Security Office, Slawomir Skrzypek, head of the National Bank of Poland, General Franciszek Gagor, the army chief of staff, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the deputy parliament speaker and Andrzej Kremer, the deputy foreign minister. “The entire top military brass, including the chief defense and all the services were on the plane. If that is true, then you’re looking at a situation, in effect, of the decapitation of the military services,” said Tomas Valasek, Director of foreign policy and defense at the Center for European Reform. The former Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski is now acting president for the next 60 days until the presidential elections take place.
Polish Prime Minister Dunald Tusk and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to Smolensk on Saturday night to pay tribute to the victims. The plane accident happened a few miles from Katyn, close to Smolensk, at 11 o’clock in the morning. The flight tried to land in heavy fog conditions, although, the traffic control in Smolensk warned the pilot about the weather problems and tried to divert the plane to another airport. The causes of the fatal tragedy are to be investigated but speculations already exist. One of the problematic facts is the plane itself, which was a Tupolev Tu.154 airliner, a standard Russian airliner used nowadays in Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe. The Polish government received criticism in the past because of the state of their aircraft base. This presidential plane was 20 years old but it was refurbished and repaired last year. The other query is the pilot’s firm decision to land on the Smolensk airport despite the dangerous meteorological conditions.
Lech Kaczynski was brought back to Warsaw Sunday afternoon. The line of the limousines carrying the body of the president passed many important avenues in the city, full of the mourning crowd who also placed countless flowers, candles and written condolences in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. “Today in the face of such drama our nation stays united. There is no division into left or right, differences of views don’t matter. We are together in the face of this tragedy,” said Bronislaw Komorowski in a televised address to the nation. He also declared a week of national mourning. The funeral will take place on Saturday when President Lech Kaczynski will be buried with his wife whose body was identified only on Monday.
This tragedy virtually left Poland without many of its most important persons in the state. The victims of the crash include Aleksander Szczyglo, the head of National Security Office, Slawomir Skrzypek, head of the National Bank of Poland, General Franciszek Gagor, the army chief of staff, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the deputy parliament speaker and Andrzej Kremer, the deputy foreign minister. “The entire top military brass, including the chief defense and all the services were on the plane. If that is true, then you’re looking at a situation, in effect, of the decapitation of the military services,” said Tomas Valasek, Director of foreign policy and defense at the Center for European Reform. The former Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski is now acting president for the next 60 days until the presidential elections take place.
Polish Prime Minister Dunald Tusk and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to Smolensk on Saturday night to pay tribute to the victims. The plane accident happened a few miles from Katyn, close to Smolensk, at 11 o’clock in the morning. The flight tried to land in heavy fog conditions, although, the traffic control in Smolensk warned the pilot about the weather problems and tried to divert the plane to another airport. The causes of the fatal tragedy are to be investigated but speculations already exist. One of the problematic facts is the plane itself, which was a Tupolev Tu.154 airliner, a standard Russian airliner used nowadays in Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe. The Polish government received criticism in the past because of the state of their aircraft base. This presidential plane was 20 years old but it was refurbished and repaired last year. The other query is the pilot’s firm decision to land on the Smolensk airport despite the dangerous meteorological conditions.
Lech Kaczynski was brought back to Warsaw Sunday afternoon. The line of the limousines carrying the body of the president passed many important avenues in the city, full of the mourning crowd who also placed countless flowers, candles and written condolences in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. “Today in the face of such drama our nation stays united. There is no division into left or right, differences of views don’t matter. We are together in the face of this tragedy,” said Bronislaw Komorowski in a televised address to the nation. He also declared a week of national mourning. The funeral will take place on Saturday when President Lech Kaczynski will be buried with his wife whose body was identified only on Monday.
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