On the 16th anniversary of the Smolensk disaster, Polish President Karol Nawrocki and PiS politicians commemorated the victims in Warsaw, facing controversy over access to the memorial.
Commemoration Events in Warsaw
On Friday, April 10th, President Karol Nawrocki and PiS politicians, including party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, participated in a Remembrance Appeal before the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, marking the sixteenth anniversary of the Smolensk disaster. Participants then proceeded to Pilsudski Square to lay wreaths at the memorials to the victims of the Smolensk tragedy and President Lech Kaczyński.
Access Restrictions to Memorial Site
Entrepreneur Zbigniew Komosa reported on Facebook that the State Protection Service informed him that access to the memorial was restricted to those on a list. He was told access would be granted after 24:00. Komosa has regularly laid a wreath at the memorial bearing the inscription: “In memory of the 95 victims of Lech Kaczyński, who, ignoring all procedures, ordered pilots to land in Smolensk in extremely difficult conditions. Rest in peace, Polish nation. Stop creating false heroes.”
Uroczystości 16. Rocznicy Tragedii Smoleńskiej
A photo of the “regulations for the 16th anniversary of the Smolensk Tragedy on Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square” circulated online. Photos from the observances are available in the article gallery.
Remembrance and Prayer
The Appeal began precisely at 8:41 AM – the time the plane carrying the Polish delegation to Katyn crashed 16 years ago. After the national anthem was sung, the names of the victims were read aloud, followed by a prayer for their souls. Attendees included President Karol Nawrocki, Head of the National Security Bureau Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Polejowski, and a large representation of PiS politicians, including party leader Jarosław Kaczyński.
PiS-Organized Events Begin with Mass
The ceremonies organized by PiS to commemorate the Smolensk disaster began at 8:00 AM with a mass in memory of the victims at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph the Betrothed on Krakowskie Przedmieście.
Background of the Smolensk Disaster
On April 10, 2010, 96 people died in the crash of a Tu-154M aircraft near Smolensk, including President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, the last President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, and representatives of key institutions and offices, including the commanders of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish delegation was traveling to the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Katyn massacre.
