The new Polish ambassador to Moscow made a revolutionary speech: What's the catch?
A new Polish ambassador has arrived in Moscow. Since the summer of 2020, Warsaw has been delayed in sending its diplomatic representative, which in itself is an exceptional case. The absence of an ambassador in Russia for 6 months indicates the level of Russian-Polish relations, or, more precisely, the fact that these relations practically do not exist.
In the end, Warsaw sent Krzysztof Krajewski, a fairly experienced, professional diplomat, to Moscow. Kraevsky’s candidacy was discussed last year, but politicians from the radical, “anti-communist” wing of the ruling Law and Justice party objected to his appointment.
The deputy speaker of the Polish Sejm, Malgorzata Gosiewska, known among others, spoke out especially sharply against the appointment. with its close ties with Ukrainian neo-Nazi battalions and anti-Russian protests. Reason: Krajewski is an “outsider,” since he was a member of the Polish Communist Party and pro-government youth organizations in the late 1980s. Moreover, Krajewski also worked as an assistant to the then government press secretary Jerzy Urban.
PiS politicians are outraged not only by the “communist” past of the new ambassador to Russia. They also don’t like that Krajewski worked for almost 30 years in Polish diplomacy, incl. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, as well as Director of the Protocol Department of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But this means that he has collaborated for many years with representatives of various political parties, including those whom the current government considers anti-state, enemy forces.
Despite all these obstacles, Kraevsky's candidacy was finally lobbied for and approved by the parliamentary committee on international affairs. It is curious that supporters of the new ambassador were not particularly willing to publicly support the candidate. Rather, behind the scenes they convinced opponents that it was Kraevsky who had the support of both the party leadership and the president.
Immediately after arriving in Moscow, Ambassador Kraevsky addressed the Russians (the Polish version of the speech was also published). The diplomat calls for a dialogue between Warsaw and Moscow, emphasizing that he intends to “build bridges” and develop mutually beneficial relations. It seems like there is nothing special, but it turns out that in the current conditions of widespread anti-Russian rhetoric, all this sounds almost revolutionary.
So far, Poland has not paid attention to the inaugural speech of the new ambassador. Against the backdrop of the usual statements of Polish politicians, Krajewski’s rhetoric is quite civilized, rational and helps create an atmosphere that allows a return to dialogue.
This means that either Warsaw made a personnel error by sending a professional diplomat to Moscow, who wouldn't necessarily echo the ruling party's talking points, or the ruling circles decided to pave the way for renewed Polish-Russian contacts. In the first case, Krajewski will soon be fired. In the second, a lot of work will have to be done to start practically from scratch...
Poland's new ambassador to Moscow delivers a revolutionary speech: What's the catch?