The Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski, who today readily uses arguments from Dmitry Medvedev to criticize President Karol Nawrocki’s decision, has been confronted with his own past. Sławomir Cenckiewicz published a document from the era of the Civic Platform (KO)–Polish People’s Party (PSL) government showing how the then foreign minister positively assessed a proposal from the Russian president and encouraged the development of cooperation mechanisms with Moscow as part of the “reset”.
On Friday, the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki announced his decision regarding the Order of the White Eagle awarded to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023.
In a statement published on social media, the Polish head of state said:
“Following the agreement of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to name one of the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the ‘heroes of the UPA’, and after consulting the Chapter, I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine. I would like to emphasize here – this decision is not directed against the Ukrainian nation. It does not signify a change in the strategic direction of Polish security policy.”
As he stressed: “Today’s decision is not only symbolic in nature. It is also a warning signal. There are limits that must not be crossed in Polish-Ukrainian relations. It is also an appeal to our neighbors: return to the path of truth and mutual respect.”
“Reseters” on the offensive
The President’s decision did not appeal to Civic Platform (KO) politicians, who uniformly shared a post by an associate of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev. Among them was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski, who during the previous government of his party willingly cooperated with Russia.
The move by the head of Polish diplomacy met with a firm reaction from the former head of the National Security Bureau, Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, co-author of “Reset” and “Consent”. The historian reminded readers of a passage from the first of these works. It is worth noting that the book “Reset” is a collection of material presented by the authors in the TV series of the same title.
“If Medvedev has become an ‘authority’ for commenting on President Nawrocki’s decision, it is worth recalling who and in what context once referred to… Medvedev!” Cenckiewicz wrote.
The published scan shows a letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski to Prime Minister Donald Tusk dated 22 December 2010. The document was prepared in response to a proposal by then President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev concerning the establishment of a permanent consultation mechanism between Poland and Russia in the field of security policy.
In the letter, the head of Polish diplomacy informed the prime minister that the Russian initiative deserved – in the assessment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – a positive evaluation. He argued that it could constitute an element of “filling the new opening in bilateral relations with meaningful content for us” and create an opportunity for regular discussions with Russia on issues related to the security of Poland and Europe.
Sikorski also proposed the scope of future consultations. The listed topics included, among others, cooperation within the NATO-Russia Council, the situation in the Kaliningrad Oblast, missile defense systems, conventional arms control in Europe, the CFE Treaty, post-START negotiations, issues of common security and defense policy, as well as licenses for weapons and military equipment.
As indicated by the authors of the book from which the document reproduction originates, the letter was directly related to a proposal made by Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Warsaw and was part of the then ongoing efforts to develop Polish-Russian dialogue under the policy referred to as the “reset”.