Poland accuses Russians in crash
Putin spokesman rejects Polish claims
WARSAW, Poland, April 3, (AP): Polish prosecutors alleged Monday that a new analysis of evidence from the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed the Polish president shows that two Russian air traffic controllers and a third Russian official in the control tower deliberately contributed to the disaster.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman quickly rejected the Polish claims, which seemed likely to deepen already tense ties between Russia and NATO member Poland.
“The circumstances of this tragedy have been thoroughly studied, and we cannot agree with such conclusions,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Poland’s National Prosecutor Marek Kuczynski said there is “no doubt” that one of the causes of the crash was the behavior of those in the control tower. Deputy prosecutor Marek Pasionek said the two air traffic controllers were guilty of “deliberately causing an air traffic catastrophe,” and said the third Russian official present was guilty of “assisting in deliberately causing a catastrophe.”
Polish investigators said they want to question the men and cannot reveal details about the evidence until that happens.
The crash on April 10, 2010, killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, many of them top Polish state and military leaders. The disaster occurred when the Polish crew tried
Russia strongly opposes NATO’s expansion in the Balkans. Montenegro accuses Moscow of plotting an election day coup in October to try to keep the country out of the alliance.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic says he expects accession opponents to organize protests ahead of parliamentary ratification of the entry protocol to land in heavy fog at a rarely used airport near Smolensk, Russia. The plane clipped a tree on approaching the runway and crashed.
It was the worst tragedy in modern Polish history and at first the nation united in grief.
But the Smolensk tragedy has since become a highly divisive political issue, pitting liberal Poles against conservative supporters of Kaczynski and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a former prime minister who now heads the populist ruling Law and Justice party.
Guilt
Jaroslaw Kaczynski has suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Polish prime minister at the time, Donald Tusk, now a top European Union leader, bear guilt for the tragedy.
Kaczynski and his allies have made a range of allegations, at times suggesting that there was an explosive device on board that brought the plane down or that Putin ordered the assassination of the Polish leader, who was deeply critical of Russia. Other suggestions have included an unproven claim that the Russians produced fake fog to disorient the pilots.
They have also alleged that Tusk failed to provide adequate security for the presidential flight and that he failed to properly investigate the tragedy afterward or get back the wreckage or flight recorders, which
in coming weeks. Markovic says protests are “legitimate”. (AP)
Sargsyan party wins vote:
Armenia’s ruling party has won just under half of the vote in the nation’s parliamentary election, enough to claim a majority of seats, authorities said Monday. remain in Russia almost seven years later.
Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz sent a note to military prosecutors last month accusing Tusk of committing the crime of diplomatic treason, alleging he worked with Putin to harm Poland’s interests after the crash.
Tusk strongly denies those claims and government critics believe Kaczynski and his nationalistic supporters have encouraged conspiracy theories to win political points with voters skeptical of Russia and proEuropean liberals like Tusk.
Some critics said they consider allegations against the Russians as a sign that a commission headed by Macierewicz that is investigating the tragedy has not uncovered anything new.
There were two major investigations into the crash separately carried out by Poland and Russia.
The Polish investigation blamed the disaster on a combination of factors, including bad weather and errors made by a pilot who was not adequately trained on the plane he was flying, a Tupolev-154. That probe also said Russian air traffic controllers gave incorrect and confusing landing instructions to pilots — but it stopped short of alleging intentional wrongdoing.
A Russian investigation at the time put all blame on the Polish side, finding no fault with the Russian air traffic controllers.
Sunday’s election was the first since the ex-Soviet nation modified its constitution to expand the powers of parliament and the prime minister.
The Republican Party of Armenia, led by President Serzh Sargsyan, won 49 percent of the vote, and the bloc led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian trailed with 27 percent, the Central Election Commission said on Monday after all ballots were counted.
Two more parties cleared the 5-percent barrier necessary to get seats in parliament. The official results are to be announced later this week.
Critics see the constitutional amendments as part of Sargsyan’s efforts to retain control of the country after he steps down in 2018 due to term limits. If his party controls parliament, he could be appointed prime minister after that. (AP)
Russia has launch attack ability:
Russia has developed the capability to launch an attack on the Baltic states with as little as 24 hours’ notice, limiting NATO’s options to respond other than to have military forces already deployed in the region, Lithuania’s intelligence service said on Monday.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, annexed by the Soviet Union in the 1940s but now part of both NATO and the European Union, have been increasingly nervous since the Russian takeover of Crimea in 2014.
The Lithuanian intelligence service said in its annual threat assessment that Russia had upgraded its military in the Kaliningrad region last year, reducing lead times for any attack and potentially preventing NATO reinforcements.
The Russian upgrade included Su-30 fighter aircraft and missile systems allowing ships to be targeted almost anywhere in the Baltic Sea. (RTRS)