NEW TENSIONS IN POLISH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 003111

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PL
SUBJECT: NEW TENSIONS IN POLISH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS WITH
BEATINGS OF POLISH EMBASSY STAFF AND REPORTER IN MOSCOW

Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin for reasons 1.5 (B) and
(D)


1. (U) The Polish government has expressed concern and
Polish politicians and media outrage over the past week's
beatings in Moscow of three members of the staff of the
Polish Embassy (one Russian employee, one Polish technical
staff member, and one Polish diplomat) and one journalist for
the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. The first beating was taken
as something of a reprisal for the mugging of three children
of a Russian diplomat in Warsaw in late July. However, the
media are beginning to view the almost daily events as a
deliberate message, if not from Putin, then from rogue
elements within the Russian government, to Poland about its
role in promoting democracy in Belarus.


2. (C) Polcouns met August 10 with Gabriel Beslej, Prime
Minister Belka's Director for International Affairs, just
after an emergency meeting Belka called after the third
beating of a Polish Embassy employee, which occurred that day
at 1:00 pm outside the Embassy in Moscow. Beslej said that
Belka had instructed the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs
to call in the Russian Charge to protest, with a parallel
protest to be delivered in Moscow. Beslej was restrained in
assigning blame for the incident, but noted that the first
attack had raised eyebrows, while three in a row could not be
simply coincidence. The Prime Minister will hold a meeting
August 16 with MFA and opposition party officials to discuss
the general problem of rising tensions with Russia.


3. (U) President Kwasniewski had clearly attempted to stay
out of the matter until the fourth incident (the August 11
journalist beating),when pressure from opposition and media
criticism made that impossible. He issued a statement
calling upon President Putin to investigate the attacks and
punish the perpetrators, and regretting the tension in
relations caused by the attacks. In response, Russia's
deputy foreign minister issued a statement August 12
expressing regret over the attacks, and hope that the
incidents would not harm relations between Russia and Poland.



4. (U) Opposition politicians, who have long called for a
stronger policy toward Russia, criticized the President for
failing to make any statement until today. Bronislaw
Komorowski of the centrist Civic Platform (PO),a leading
candidate to repeat as Defense Minister in the next
government, criticized Kwasniewski in an August 12 radio
interview for what he called two years of "soft" responses to
Russian provocation.


5. (C) Comment: The government clearly has sought to avoid
directly blaming the Russian government for the beatings, and
will almost certainly do what it can not to let the issue
further damage relations. Kwasniewski has consistently
followed a policy of seeking good relations with Russia, but
has matched that with firmness in pursuing such issues as
democracy in Ukraine and Belarus. The media and the
opposition are less restrained, however, in arguing there
must be a clear Russian government hand in the events,
intended to send a message to Poland to stop its
democracy-promotion activities in Belarus. They have also
made much of Putin's accusatory statements in the wake of the
July mugging of three Russian Embassy dependents. We hope to
get the Prime Minister's and President's perspectives during
next week's meetings with an upcoming CODEL.
Piascik