Poland to remove 500 Soviet monuments

The Polish government is set to remove around 500 Soviet monuments throughout the country.

The decision was announced by head of the Institute of National Remembrance, Łukasz Kamiński, in an interview with online portal Onet.pl. The Institute is responsible for investigating crimes against the Polish nation.

According to Mr Kamiński, plans for the demolition of the monuments will be sent to local authorities over the next few weeks. He stated that the preservation of the monuments was “a fatal mistake” and that they should have been demolished in the early 1990s, adding that the removed monuments will be transported to museums where they will be “a witness of hard times”.

Mr Kamiński noted, however, that the Polish government will continue to care for the graves of Soviet soldiers located within Poland.

Yelena Sutormina, chair of the Russian Civic Chamber’s Commission on Development of Public Diplomacy and Support of Russian Nationals Abroad, has called upon UNESCO to block the Polish government’s plans to remove the monuments.

Last year the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Poland of waging a “war on monuments”, after they demolished a commemorative monument to the camaraderie between Polish and Red Army soldiers.

Source: The Moscow Times