Ahead of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Poland, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski promised to take steps to speed up rapprochement between the two countries.
"The process of rapprochement and reconciliation of our countries has started, and I, as the Polish president, will contribute to this. On the other hand, I know that, given the difficult experience of the past, we still have a long way ahead, on which we may face mines and rough spots," Komorowski said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Medvedev will pay his first state visit to Poland on December 6-7, marking a new stage in relations between the two countries, which began following the tragic death of then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash in western Russia in April.
"Not everyone in our countries would like positive changes in our relations. The top-level meeting should contribute to this [rapprochement] process, give it an impetus, break the barriers and build mutual trust," Komorowski, who was elected the new Polish president in early elections over the summer, said.
"This visit will not be just the beginning, it will be the continuation and maybe even a summary of the results of the first stage in our new relations," he said.
Ties between Russia and Poland, which had been hampered for decades over a range of historical disputes, have improved since Russian authorities and citizens expressed deep sorrow over the April 10 accident.
The plane carrying a delegation of high-ranking Polish officials, including President Kaczynski and his wife, crashed during landing in thick fog near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. The officials were en route to the Russian western location of Katyn, where they were expected to attend a ceremony commemorating the murder of more than 20,000 Polish soldiers by the Soviet secret police, NKVD, in 1940.
The agenda of the upcoming bilateral meeting will focus on Russian-Polish security and economic cooperation, as well as on "difficult" historical issues, including the Katyn massacre, Komorowski said.
Several agreements and declarations will be signed during the talks, including declarations on the creation of a youth exchange programs fund and on the modernization of the two countries' economies, as well as an agreement on maritime transportation and fighting the pollution of the Baltic Sea and the Vistula (the Kaliningradskiy) Lagoon. The Russian and Polish Prosecutor General's Offices and national centers for bilateral dialogue will also sign cooperation agreements, the president said.
Speaking on April's plane crash, Komorowski said it was too early to evaluate investigations into the tragedy being carried out by Russia and Poland.
"I believe that the Russian side understands our sensitivity over this issue. We are certainly expecting results that would correspond to the highest criteria of investigation accuracy and objectivity," he said.
WARSAW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
