Air crash makes its mark on Polish poll

Features discuss the feelings in Poland one year after the air disaster in April 2010 at Smolensk, Russia, which killed the Polish President and 95 members of the senior establishment of Poland.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Lech Kaczynski, the Poland President killed in April 2010, has boycotted the official anniversary memorial ceremonies in a sign of the continuing divisions created by the crash that are likely to play a key role in forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Russia’s sympathy for grief-stricken Poles immediately after the crash temporarily improved historically difficult relations between Warsaw and Moscow, but tension has resurfaced.

ESO: Background information: Air crash report strains Russia-Polish ties http://www.europeansources.info/record/air-crash-report-strains-russia-polish-ties/

BBC News, 10.4.11: Poland: Kaczynski holds rival Smolensk crash ceremony http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13028843

Deutsche Welle, 10.4.11: Divided Poles commemorate Smolensk crash amid Russia tensions http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14978891,00.html

Polskie Radio, 11.4.11: Plaque row overshadows President Komorowski’s Smolensk visit http://www.thenews.pl/international/?id=153098

France24, 10.4.11: Divided Poles mark anniversary of plane crash http://www.france24.com/en/20110410-divided-poland-anniversary-plane-crash-president-lech-kaczynski

Polskie Radio, 10.4.11: Smolensk - ‘the day our world collapsed’ http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul153086_smolensk---the-day-our-world-collapsed.html

Polska The Times, 15.4.11: Kaczyński: an exile in residence (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/601221-kaczynski-exile-residence

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