Russia, European Commission in war of words over WW II

Russia and European Commission have engaged in a war of words over Poland’s role in World War II outbreak. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on several occasions that Poland bears responsibility for the outbreak of the war. World War II began in 1939 when Poland was invaded first by Nazi Germany, then by the […]

Russia and European Commission have engaged in a war of words over Poland’s role in World War II outbreak.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on several occasions that Poland bears responsibility for the outbreak of the war.

World War II began in 1939 when Poland was invaded first by Nazi Germany, then by the Soviet Union two weeks later. Some 6 million Polish citizens were killed in the war.

Putin has argued that collusion with Adolf Hitler by Western powers paved the way for World War II, citing archival documents which he asserted show the Polish ambassador to Berlin praising Hitler’s plans to rid Europe of Jews.

But Poland and European Commission dismissed Putin’s account of the war, which they said paints Poland as a perpetrator instead of a victim.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last month that the Russian president lied about the war’s history, emphasising that as time passes it’s important to speak the truth.

The truth, according to EU’s Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourova’s account, was that Hitler-Stalin pact of 1939 paved the way for the second World War, which ended 75 years ago this year.

How the verbal war started

The dispute started after the European Parliament issued a resolution in September, blaming World War II’s outbreak in part on a nonaggression pact signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

In December, Putin, criticising the resolution as “complete nonsense”, stated that the war was not caused by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, but by the Munich Pact of 1938.

He also emphasized Poland’s use of the Munich Agreement to implement territorial claims regarding some Czechoslovakian territory.

The Russian leader noted at the country’s annual Defense Ministry’s board meeting that, “Certain European countries and those from overseas often try to pervert history and come up with some incredible scenarios of events unfolding in the world and Europe on the verge of World War II.”

“Recently, our colleagues in Europe, the European Parliament, adopted a resolution that practically lumps together Hitler’s Germany and the Soviet Union hinting or directly saying that the Soviet Union bears responsibility for the outbreak of World War II. This is complete nonsense, of course,” he criticized the resolution.

Putin underlined that the Soviet Union was one of the last countries to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany, “all leading European states did that before the Soviet Union.” He conceded, “the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed and it included the so-called secret protocol on dividing spheres of influence.”

“But what were European states doing before that? The very same thing! They were doing exactly that since 1938. When Hitler laid his claims to a part of Czechoslovakia, Great Britain and France sold their ally out even though they [Czechoslovakia and France] had a treaty of mutual assistance, giving Hitler an opportunity to grab a piece of Czechoslovakia,” Putin stressed.

The Russian leader added that Polish leadership at the time “colluded with Hitler, which is clear looking at archive documents.”
“It is a big question whether there were any secret protocols there. But it is not important. What is important is how they acted — and they definitely acted in cahoots with each other. [That’s what] documents [prove] simply showing how they were negotiating,” he said.

He also argued that in September 1939, the Red Army in Brest did not fight with the Poles. “Brest Fortress was only occupied by the Red Army after the Germans left. They had already captured it, thus, in reality, the Soviet Union did not seize it from Poland,” he said.

On January 10, the Polish parliament, the Sejm, condemned the provocative and untrue statements of the highest Russian authorities trying to blame Poland for the outbreak of World War II.

In a unanimous resolution, Sejm stated that the war was caused by two totalitarian regimes: Nazi Germany ruled by Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. It emphasises that after the signing of the “shameful” Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, the first victims of the two regimes were Poland and the countries of Central-Eastern Europe.

The European Commission also backed Poland over the history of World War II.

EU’s Commissioner Jourová told European parliament Wednesday that she “rejects any false claim” that paints Poland as a perpetrator instead of a victim of the 1939-1945 war. She said she “will not tolerate these attacks on Poland.”

Jourova’s comments came during a debate on “Distortion of European history and remembrance of the Second World War”.

“As the now-famous quotation goes: everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” Jourova said. “Organized and targeted dissemination of distortions and disinformation is something we have to oppose and reject.”

Jourova said, however, that the Nazi-Soviet alliance enabled the attack on Poland by Nazi Germany on 1 September 1939 and subsequently Soviet troops on 17 September.”

Manfred Weber, who leads the European People’s Party said on Wednesday that the party would not accept “Putin’s attempt to rewrite history”.

“Every German politician has to assume the responsibility of our country. But every politician inside and outside of Europe also has the responsibility not to play with history,” Weber told the EU’s parliament during a debate.