Putin was in Czech republic and Hungary very recently and he almost apologized by what Soviet Union did to these countries (I did not know about it when I wrote the previous message). But he does not want to come to Poland...
Jaga,
I think that that is because of the sensitive and emotional between
Poland and Russia. If you know about the recent past, anti-Russian
sentiments in Poland and anti-Polish sentiments in Russia and the
fact that the diplomatic relations were very problematic after
incidents in Warsaw and Russian cities, I understand why a Russian
or Polish president would not visit the other country.
But I am sure that behind the curtians the Poles and Russians have
very strong ties, and working very hard to repair the damage, which
was made by Polish and Russian thugs, who attacked both
nationalities in eachothers cities. The Czech republic and Hungary
are smaller countries, probably have less conflicts with the Russia,
and are less a threat than Poland seems to be ( I look here from
a Russian point of view).
For Poland Russia is vital for it's Petrol, gas and huge internal
market for Polish products and services. And Russian tourism is
very important for the Polish Tourist industry.
Hungary and the Czech republic must have a problematic realtion
with the Russians to, because of the Sovjet occupations of 1956
and 1968, and the really harsh Stalinist puppet regimes in those
countries. I know that there are quite a lot of traumatized
Hungarian and Czech immigrants in the Netherlands who escaped
their countries in the fiftees, sixtees and seventees.
I saw the mental scars in the form of a Hungarian girlfriend of two
of my Duch girlfriends in Amsterdam, and in the father of
a half-Hungarian friend of mine, who became ill because of
the damage the past had done to him, not went back to Hungary,
and was not seen as a Hungarian by his Hungarian family
anymore (his Duch son was told by his uncles,
your father is not a real Hungarian).
And I remember my mothers problems with the Iron curtian,
the post to Poland which was opened and checked,
the difficulties of travelling via the DDR (the himuliations by
the East-German border guards, the endless checks, being
checked three times in East-Berlin in the train,
the reality was worse than the movies.
I remember the DDR as a scarry,
concentrationcamp like country.), and her worries about the health
of my grandmother, and that she got good healthcare.
She was really fed up with it in the eightees and I think that
damaged her image of Poland and her distance towards it.
I am the one in my family who constantly talks and writes
about Poland, not my mother, father and sister (who lives in
a differant reality).
So when it is already difficult to remain ties in the Netherlands
with Poland or Polish culture, the difficulties between Poland
and Russia are really a far distance problem, which are very
actual for the people who live there and a families past.
Via a Polish woman in Arnhem
(
www.xs4all.nl/~dorota/ ) I was brought in contact
with an Duch women who speaks Polish very well, because
she is in contact with Poles for 20 years, and has Polish friends
in Poland and the Netherlands.
This sunday afternoon I will meet her for the first time,
after several e-mails, I am very anxious to meet her, and am
very thankful to Dorota that she linked me to this person.
This became a sort of personal reaction, but it has to do with
my ambivallent personal relationship towards the Polis-Russian
relationship, due to the
problematic realtionship of my Polish family with the Russian
neigbours, my fathers anti-Communism/socialism of the past,
and from the other hand my personal experiance with Russians
in Amsterdam, and my families fondness of Russian literature,
culture, music and poetry.
