DISINFO: Polish politicians and society are not interested in normalising relations with Russia
SUMMARY
Within the past year, there have been no visible changes for the better in relations between Moscow and Warsaw, but there are no significant obstacles to the normalisation of bilateral relations.
There is no clear demand in Polish society to normalise relations with Russia and there is no pressure on the politicians to do so. The issue of normalisation of relations with Russia does not exist in current Polish politics. Anyone who comes up with such an initiative is immediately exposed to massive defamation by the political community and media, being presented as the fifth column and the “Kremlin’s agent”.
RESPONSE
This message, with a statement from the Russian Ambassador to Poland, is a part of the Kremlin’s widespread narrative about anti-Russian Poland, which deliberately worsens its relations with Russia because of its Russophobia or supporting American interests in the region.
The Polish authorities have stated that Poland is willing to improve its relations with Russia – on the condition that Russia starts observing the regulations of international law. In a statement of 21 December 2019, the Polish authorities reiterated their openness to continue the historical dialogue with Russia, for example, through restarting the work of the bilateral Group on Difficult Issues.
Current issues in the Polish-Russian relations are directly connected with Russia's actions: continuous violation of international law, anti-Polish "historical" accusations, ungrounded expulsion of a Polish diplomat, to name some. The current key Russia-related concerns of Poland stems from the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's armed military aggression in Ukraine since 2014. The Polish government supports solving the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
See other examples of similar messages claiming that Poland has no reasons to have tense relations with Russia, but is only a US vassal state; Poland uses the situation around Navalny as a pretext for the next anti-Russian attack and The Polish Government deliberately worsens its relations with Russia.