Interfax apologizes to Sikorski for inaccurate reporting

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Russia’s Interfax news agency has apologized to Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski for improperly quoting him regarding alleged “Russian aggression” against Poland, the Polish Radio reported.

The Polish foreign ministry protested after the Russian news agency Interfax dispatch from Washington CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

Russia attacks Sikorski on comments about U.S. troops in Poland

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — A member of the Russian parliament has criticized Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski for his comments during his visit this week to Washington, but the Polish foreign ministry has disputed the accuracy of Russian news reports quoting Sikorski’s statement. The point of dispute is whether Sikorski has publicaly asked for U.S. troops to be stationed in Poland, CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

U.S. media ignore Russia’s simulated attack on Poland

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Mirroring the Obama Administration’s diminished interest in Eastern Europe and unwillingness to challenge Russia’s aggressive foreign policy in the region, mainstream U.S. media ignored Polish and British news reports about a simulated attack on Poland, which Russian troops conducted during military exercises in Belarus in September. Polish news magazine Wprost reported that Russian aircraft practiced the use of nuclear weapons in the attacks. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

More diplomatic confusion between U.S. and Poland

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. media has not yet picked up on the latest diplomatic controversy between Poland and the U.S. But the public disagreement between president Obama’s new ambassador in Warsaw Lee A. Feinstein and the Polish defense minister over plans to send additional Polish troops CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

VOA: Poland Pledges Cooperation

The following is a Voice of America report.*
Poland Pledges Cooperation With New Missile Defense Plan* Listen to VOA Report
By Hilary Heuler, Warsaw
21 October 2009

Vice President Joe Biden visited Poland and received assurances from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Poland will take part in a new missile defense plan. Polish officials said they would host elements of the new plan that was announced last month in Washington. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

Ambassador Ashe: Biden’s visit helpful

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, who had left Warsaw just three weeks ago, is quoted in The New York Times as saying that Vice President Biden’s trip “went a long ways toward being helpful.” CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

New York Times covers Biden in Warsaw from Berlin

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — It is not a good time for Poland in Washington and in U.S. media. The New York Times covered Vice President Biden’s visit to Warsaw from Berlin. It could have been worse; the report could have been filed from Moscow or the paper could have used a short AP story, as did The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and almost all other major U.S. newspapers. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

The New York Times on Russia’s threat to Poland

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew E. Kramer’s article in The New York Times, “Russia Gas Pipeline Heightens East Europe’s Fears,” quotes Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, who has compared the deal between Russia and Germany to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea to the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that ended with the Nazi-Soviet attack on Poland in 1939 and divided Central Europe into spheres of German and Soviet influence. “Taking the decision first and consulting us later is not our idea of solidarity,” Sikorski said.

The New York Times correspondent also mentions an open letter sent to President Obama, in which Lech Walesa and other leaders from Central Europe warned him about Russia’s imperial ambitions. There is no analysis, however, of the Obama Administration’s position on this issue or any mention of the controversy over American security guarantees for Central Europe under President Obama.

Andrew E. Kramer does not say whether the president has ignored the warnings from Central Europe, but he quotes Zbigniew Brzezinski, an early supporter of Barack Obama CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE