Macron: Russia trying to revise WWII history
Russia is trying to reinterpret the developments of World War II and place the blame for it on the Polish nation, said French President Emmanuel Macron while speaking to Polish students in Warsaw, Le Monde reports.
The French leader said that he wants to “affirm France’s solidarity with the Polish nation in the face of an entity which denies reality” and seeks to falsify history.
The dispute between Russia and Poland regarding the role of both countries in WWII broke out after Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized European Parliament’s resolution “on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe”. In it, European MPs accuse Moscow of attempting to “whitewash the crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime”. The Russian leader described the document as a “shameless lie”, saying that the resolution puts the Soviet Union on the same footing as Nazi Germany.
Putin also said that in 1938, Poland itself “participated in the division of Czechoslovakia” alongside Nazi Germany, and that in 1939 Soviet troops entered Poland only after Poland’s government had lost control of the situation in the country. Putin also described Jósef Lipski, the Polish Ambassador to Germany from 1935-1939, as a scoundrel and anti-Semitic swine who agreed with Hitler’s anti-Semitic views.
In response, the Polish Foreign Ministry accused Russia of presenting “a false picture of events”, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki drew attention to the alliance between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance said that Germany coordinated its attack against Poland with the Soviet Union.
While speaking in Poland, Macron said that France is neither pro-Russia nor anti-Russia. According to the president, France is “pro-Europe”. The French leader remarked that Europe needs to demonstrate its “firmness” in relations with Moscow. He said that Poland can trust Europe, which will defend it if it is attacked.