Polish presidential candidate calls for normalization of relations with Russia.
The Polish presidential candidates almost unanimously share the view that normalizing relations with Russia is important, and they do not support bringing Ukraine into NATO.
According to RIA Novosti on May 13, Polish presidential candidate Grzegorz Braun has voiced support for the normalization of relations with Russia.
The first round of the Polish presidential election is scheduled to take place on May 18th. Incumbent Polish President Andrzej Duda will be unable to participate in this election as he is serving his second consecutive term.
"I am a supporter of normalization and reasonable policies with neighboring countries," candidate Braun stated when commenting on Polish-Russian relations during the election debate.
At the same time, he reminded another presidential candidate, Karol Nawrocki, representing the Law and Justice party, that Nawrocki had recently called for severing diplomatic relations with Russia and also wanted the return to Poland of the wreckage of the Tu-154 aircraft involved in the 2010 plane crash near Smolensk.
Meanwhile, another presidential candidate, Maciej Maciak, argued that, in any case, the conflict in Ukraine would end with Kyiv's defeat, and Warsaw could be held responsible for this.
Matsyak said: "Every sane and honest person knows for sure that Ukraine will lose this war. The longer the war lasts, the more Ukrainians will die."
Matsyak fears that with the current political class, "these people will not be able to protect us from the emerging argument that it is because of you, the Poles, that the Ukrainian people have died."
This politician believes that, to avoid such consequences, the Polish government needs to immediately adopt a neutral stance regarding Ukraine and the conflict with Russia.
"We must start acting as soon as possible, like Hungary and Slovakia – in a neutral way," candidate Maciak explained.
Slawomir Mentzen, a candidate from the "Federation" coalition of nationalists and Eurosceptics, has vowed to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
"I will not agree to send Polish troops to Ukraine, I will not agree to Ukraine joining NATO," candidate Mentzen stated during the election debate.
"We cannot get involved in this war, we don't want to be drawn into it, we don't want Polish soldiers to die there," he added.
Relations between Russia and Poland have deteriorated significantly in recent years. Moscow accuses Warsaw of harboring a “fanatical” hatred of Russia. Despite criticism and protests from the Russian Federation, the Polish authorities continue to destroy Soviet monuments and confiscate Russian property.
In response to Warsaw's actions, Moscow placed Poland on its list of hostile states and expelled dozens of Polish diplomats and consular officials from the country – a retaliatory measure for the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Poland.
