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Ukrainian, Polish presidents to coordinate actions on Belarus KYIV. Aug 26 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski might discuss an initiative on coordinating their actions towards Belarus at their upcoming meeting. "I do not rule out that this initiative may be on the agenda, at the meeting between President Viktor Yushchenko and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. I do not rule out that this initiative might soon be discussed at the highest level and in this period of time some political decision might be made," Ukrainian Deputy State Secretary Markian Lubkivsky told a briefing on Friday....

President Kwasniewski calls on Putin to end violence against Poles in Moscow 12.08.2005 Poland's president has called on his Russian counterpart to try to end a spate of anti-Polish violence on the streets of Moscow. Aleksander Kwasniewski urged Vladimir Putin and the Russian authorities to punish the attackers and added that they were creating harmful tensions between Russia and Poland. Two Polish diplomats have also been beaten up in Moscow in the past week. Kwasniewski described the beatings as organised events, and insisted it was within the power of the Russian security and police services to put an end to...

Polonaise by Kwasniewski The attack on children of some Russian embassy officials in Poland has caused an unexpectedly sharp reaction of the Russian authorities. Vladimir Putin called it “an unfriendly act which should be qualified as a crime.” Mikhail Zygar, an observer of “Vlast” magazine, thinks that children are not the main cause of the exacerbation of the relations between the two countries, simply, the Polish question has again come to the fore in Russia. Few people remember that some 150 years ago Poland for Russia was the same as Chechnya is now. Uprisings flared up from time to time...

The VIII Ukraine–Poland economic forum opened yesterday in Gdasnk, where the presidents of Ukraine and Poland, Viktor Yushchenko and Alexsander Kwasniewski, will arrive today to take part. Kiev is pinning particular hopes on cooperation with Poland, relations with which have significantly strengthened since the Orange Revolution, which received support from Warsaw. Last year's Ukraine–Poland economic summit was held in Yalta two months after Poland's entry into the EU. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and then Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma took part in the proceedings. At that time, relations between the two countries were difficult. However, this past year, Ukraine and Poland...

Western Countries 'Must Support Reforms in Eastern Europe' Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said today that Western European governments have a duty to support democratic reforms in countries on Europe’s eastern fringe. “We must lend our support to all of those who want to live in accordance with European standards and democratic values in whatever region of our continent,” Kwasniewski said at the opening of a two-day summit of the Council of Europe, Europe’s top human rights watchdog. “We would like to see borders linking rather than dividing ... no one should be belittled, abandoned or forgotten.” Kwasniewski has pushed European...

Polish - Belarus relations in crisis 16.05.2005 Polish head of state said that the attitude of Belarus authorities to the Polish minorities living in Belarus is unacceptable. The Polish head of state commented last week’s interference of Belarus authorities into the elections conducted by the Polish Union in Belarus . Newly elected authorities of the Union were recalled and the elections annulled after Belarus Justice Ministry said they were not in line with the Union’s status. This was yet another example of the interference of Belarus authorities into the internal affairs of the NGO grouped in Belarus. Polish foreign ministry...

Polish president pays tribute to victims of Stalinism 08.05.2005 President Kwasniewski has opened a visit to Moscow. A day ahead of the main ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, he has visited a cemetary where victims of Soviet political repression between 1945 and 53 are buried. The cemetary also contains the symbolic tombs of the leaders of Poland’s non-communist wartime resistance who were later jailed in Moscow. The Polish president also laid a wreath at a monument to the victims of Stalinism sited outside the headquarters of the former KGB. In a speech in...

Polish president slams Moscow for refusing to acknowledge Baltic occupation. WARSAW (AFP) - Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski slammed Moscow for denying that the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states after World War II, saying the claim was "historically unjustified and morally wrong." "The 'request' by the Baltic authorities to be incorporated into the USSR is on par with the 'request' by Czech leaders in 1968" that Moscow intervene to crush the Prague Spring uprising, Kwasniewski said on public radio. On Thursday, the Kremlin's European affairs chief, Sergei Yastrjembsky, said that Moscow had not occupied the states of Estonia, Latvia and...

During Pope John Paul II's funeral at the Vatican, Lech Wa³êsa and Aleksander Kwaœniewski shook hands, putting an end to nearly 10 years of political enmity. "Today John Paul II achieved yet another victory. During our stay in Rome, I had an important talk about Poland with President Lech Wa³êsa," said Polish President Aleksander Kwaœniewski in a statement delivered after his return from the Vatican funeral. "We shook hands. We both felt that the gravity of the moment required us to do so and that we owed this to the Holy Father and to the Polish nation," the president said....

President Kwasniewski - the next UN Secretary General? 18.04.2005 Poland’s president Aleksander Kwaœniewski is considering running to become the next UN secretary general. Some opposition parties claim that they would be ready to support Kwaœniewski's candidature. "If the UN is going to change into a more active institution, then it would be quite a challenge and an interesting experience for me," said the President. The elections for a new UN secretary general have been scheduled for 2006. The Polish president's candidature looks as thought it would be supported by the U.S. and it would have to be accepted by the...

Polish Leader Vows to Remember Holocaust By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, March 16, 2005 (03-16) 02:01 PST JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) -- Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski told world leaders gathered for the opening of a new Holocaust museum that he will preserve the memory of the Polish Jewish community that was nearly wiped out in the Nazi genocide, and he vowed to fight racism in modern Poland. The visiting leaders attended a second day of ceremonies and educational conferences Wednesday to mark the opening of the $56 million museum, which tells the story of the Holocaust from the point...

Presidential No-Show 16 March 2005 The president's failure to appear before the Sejm investigation commission has caused the fiercest political controversy in Poland of the past few months and the most serious crisis in the president's entire second term. Aleksander Kwasniewski did not show up March 8 in the parliament where he was supposed to testify before the commission investigating the PKN Orlen scandal. "I refuse to take part in a political brawl," the president said the day before at a special press conference. He firmly announced he would not appear when summoned by other investigation commissions throughout the end...

A Bridge of Sighs by Jakub Jedras 24 February 2005 Months after feeling euphoric at their role in Ukraine’s revolution, Poles are now feeling a little deflated about the country’s foreign policy. Aleksander Kwasniewski received a very warm welcome when he visited Washington in early February. There were smiles and bonhomie. There was talk of the “strategic, lasting character” of Polish-U.S. cooperation and a promise from President George Bush to try and squeeze $100 million from Congress to help modernize the Polish military, an offer that seems to have defused a Polish threat to scale back its presence in Iraq....

Polish President will attend Moscow end of World War II events 2005-02-18, 13:24 Poland's president Aleksander Kwasniewski has confirmed that he will attend events marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II to be held in Moscow on May 9th. The opposition called on the president to boycott the ceremonies after Russia said the 1945 Yalta Treaty marked the beginning of democratic Europe. Kwaœniewski said that this view is far from true. He recalled, however, that the Yalta Treaty, which placed Poland in the Soviet sphere of influence, was signed also by Britain and the United States....

US and Polish Presidents' Discussions Thursday, 10 February 2005, 12:07 pm Press Release: The White House President and Polish President Discuss International Policy The Oval Office PRESIDENT BUSH: The President and I will have opening statements. I'll answer a question from the American press; he'll answer a question -- or somebody will answer a question from the Polish press. And we'll do this twice. Thank you all for coming. Welcome back to the Oval Office. It is my great pleasure to welcome my friend back here to discuss important international policy and policy related to our bilateral relationship. We discussed,...

President Bush and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski (link to press conference) met for the fourth time in the Oval Office "to discuss international policy," Iraq, training Iraqis, Bush's upcoming trip to Europe, Ukraine, making it easier for Polish citizens to travel to America, etc. Bush participated in a class-action lawsuit reform conversation, saying, "...A capitalist society depends on the capacity for people willing to take risk and to say there's a better future, and I want to take a risk toward that future. And I'm deeply concerned that too many lawsuits make it too difficult for people to do that."...

A culture of life for America got a big boost from President Bush as he addressed, from Camp David by telephone, pro-life demonstrators in DC marking the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. He told abortion opponents he shared their support for 'a culture of life' and lauded progress in passing legislation to protect the vulnerable. Presidents Bush and Chirac plan to have dinner in Europe next month. The president is also planning to host Chirac in the United States sometime soon. Bush plans to stop in Germany, and to meet with Russia's Putin in the Slovak Republic during his...

MOSCOW, December 28, (RIA Novosti) - Although relations with the American administration and the European Union are normal, international politicians have begun airing the idea of restricting Russia's influence, Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Fund for Effective Policy (FEP), noted at a news conference on Tuesday. He called the idea the "Kwasniewski doctrine", because the Polish president was the first to voice it. "Russia rejects this doctrine - we are not accepting in any degree the policy of curbing Russia's influence. This is beyond the boundaries of geopolitical correctness," Pavlovsky said. The expert believes that Russia passes through "periods of...

Polish Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland on Monday congratulated Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko on his presidential election victory, hailing it as a step toward the European Union, his office here said. Kwasniewski, who helped mediate the political crisis that gripped Ukraine after last month's election was ruined by massive fraud, was the first foreign leader publicly to congratulate Yushchenko on winning the rerun ballot. He telephoned the pro-Western opposition leader to say he was "satisfied to see Ukraine emerge successfully from its political crisis." The Polish leader cited the high turnout rate in Sunday's poll and the fact it had...

Kwasniewski says Putin’s criticism “unfair” 24.12.2004, 02.14 WARSAW, December 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski assessed the criticism from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as “unfair” and said it was the price he had to pay for involvement in the Ukrainian political crisis. "I think the words spoken today by President Putin, which I consider unfair, are the price that Poland, and me personally, pay for our involvement in the solving of the political crisis in Ukraine and in developing democracy," he told reporters Thursday. Putin criticized Kwasniewski for saying the United States would prefer Russia without Ukraine rather...