Polen wil vermeend gebrekkig Russisch onderzoek naar vliegtuigcrash Kaczynski aankaarten op Europees niveau (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Polish investigators looking into the air disaster in Smolensk last year plan to complain about Russia's alleged mishandling of the probe at a new EU i civil aviation club.

Speaking to the Polish Press Agency in Brussels on Wednesday (19 January), Edmund Klich, a Polish lieutenant who worked with Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) on the Smolensk crash, said he will bring detailed grievances to a meeting of the European Network of Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authorities in Cologne in April.

"It's about raising awareness at the EU level about problems in the crash investigation relating to Annex 13 and problems in co-operating with the Russians, so that people in the EU know that it's not so easy to work with the Russians," he explained.

"I think we have to put forward this problem in an international forum ... Russia violated Annex 13 on numerous occasions, now let the specialists decide."

Russia took sole custody of the investigation under a 1947 international agreement, the Chicago Convention, Annex 13 of which says it is obliged to share all documents with Poland and to take its observations into account in the final report.

The MAK report, published last week, appalled Warsaw by putting all the blame on Polish pilots without mentioning Poland's views on the poor quality of the Russian airport in Smolensk and mistakes made by Russian air traffic controllers.

The European Network of Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authorities was created last September to advise EU institutions, make EU-wide air safety recommendations and promote best practices in investigation procedures.

The Smolensk crash, which killed former Polish president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other senior Polish officials, is a hot topic in upcoming Polish elections, with the opposition Law and Justice Party, led by Lech Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, accusing the government of being soft on Russia for the sake of better relations.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski at a heated debate in the Polish parliament on Wednesday said: "MAK is, from the point of view of European regulations, an institution whose reports deserve only to be laughed at."

Commenting on Poland's efforts to improve relations with Russia, he added: "Latvia for 18 years did not even have a border or any relations with Russia and developed very well under these conditions ... Russia is today a weakening country which has to take account of international opinion."

For his part, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk i, who is keen to secure a second term in the October elections and to run a smooth Polish EU presidency later this year, said Moscow is a "difficult partner," but accused Mr Kaczynski of trying to start a "Cold War" with Russia for the sake of political gain.

"The issuing of clarifying the Smolensk catastrophe is very important for us Poles, but let's not kid ourselves that it's a priority for all the countries of the world," he noted.

"I count among the chief interests of Poland ... positive, correct relations with its neighbours," he added. "The international standing of Poland, in the EU as in the wider world, depends - and this is unequivocal, there can be no discussion here - on the type of relations we have with our neighbours."