Mourning for Poland
April 12, 2010
In the capital, Warsaw, on Monday, tens of thousands of Poles gathered to mourn the tragic death of their president, Lech Kaczynski, and the other victims of Saturday's plane crash.
The mass gatherings, which began shortly after news of the tragedy reached Poland, have echoed those of 2005, after Polish Pope John Paul II died.
Lech Kaczynski's coffin is to be put on public view from Tuesday until Saturday, when he is to be buried together with his wife, according to a statement from the president's office.
The tragedy of the weekend crash has united Poles across the political spectrum.
The Polish newspaper Dziennnik ran the headline "together in paying respects," devoting the entire front page to a single photograph of one man passing a candle to another.
"Side by side in daily life, but so seldom together," the daily wrote about Polish society. "The tragedy in Smolensk has united us again in society. It has quieted political spats for a moment."
The daily Gazeta Wyborcza thanked Russia for the support it showed: "Russia has opened to Poland, but also to its own self, to its history and to coming to terms with Stalinism."
"We thank you, Muscovite brothers," the paper wrote in a column, referring to expressions of sympathy from Russians and their Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Moscow shows its solidarity
Flags flew at half mast in Russia and entertainment programs were cancelled on Russian television, with all advertising banned on TV and radio.
Colorless newspaper front pages greeted Russians on Monday as the country conducted a day of national mourning to honor the 96 people killed in the Smolensk plane crash.
Dozens of people laid flowers and lighted candles at the Polish embassy in Moscow and Poland's general consulates in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. Many citizens also paid their last respects to the victims at the site of the crash, 400 kilometers (248 miles) west of Moscow.
In the meantime, Russian prosecutors continued to investigate the crash. Officials have accused the pilot of attempting to land despite strong warnings by ground controllers. Fog had reduced visibility to only 400 meters at the time of the crash, Russian officials said.
Two minutes of silence in Brussels
The European Union declared Monday a day of mourning, with flags at all EU institutions in Brussels flying at half mast. All official meetings were preceded by two minutes of silence.
EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy paid tribute to Kaczynski over the weekend, calling him a "great patriot and statesman." He said Europe joined Poland in mourning its "great loss" and offered Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk the EU's condolences.
The EU's high representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, who had scheduled a diplomatic trip to Warsaw for Monday, cancelled the visit at the request of Polish officials.
Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler are to attend the funeral for Kaczynski on Saturday, a spokesman in Berlin said on Monday.
The rare double attendance by a head of state and head of government underlines the great importance Germany attributes to relations with its eastern neighbor.
glb/AFP/AP/dpa
Editor: Chuck Penfold