Removal of communist era monuments

Tomado de http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/4603

______________________________________________________________________________

Poland drawing up law to allow removal of communist-era monuments

MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press Writer

Monday May 7th, 2007

Comment on this Story | Read Comments

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland said Monday that it was preparing a law that would give local authorities free hand to remove monuments of "praise for the communist dictatorship" but allow for preservation of those that honor Soviet soldiers.

In a controversy over a similar issue, neighboring Estonia remains locked in a bitter dispute with Russia and with its own ethic Russian minority over the relocation of a memorial to Red Army troops. The move led to rioting and angry words from Russian officials.

But Polish Culture Minister Kazimierz Michal Ujazdowski said the Polish legislation was not inspired by the dispute and was conceived months before it began. He said the legislation would bring order to existing regulations.

"The point of the law is to give the right to local governors to remove those objects that in a drastic manner commemorate the communist dictatorship," Ujazdowski said on TVN24 television.

"Wherever our national pride is hurt with praise for the communist dictatorship, the local governor should act," Ujazdowski said, adding that he knew of places where memorials with Russian-language inscriptions remain chief city monuments.

He said, however, the law would not target monuments honoring the bravery of Red Army soldiers.

"Under no circumstance can we be accused of a lack of respect for the ordinary soldiers," he said.

The government was expected to discuss a draft of the bill by early June, he said.

Poland broke away from communism and Soviet domination in 1989. During the four decades of communist rule after Soviet troops overran Poland at the end of World War II, thousands of monuments were put up and streets named to honor Red Army soldiers who liberated Poland from the Nazi occupation, but many were built to honor the communist authorities.

Some monuments remain, including a Brotherhood-in-Arms monument in Warsaw, popularly called "The Four Sleeping Men," because it features four standing soldiers, Polish and Soviet, with their heads down.

The minister indicated that in this sort of situation, the local authority would be allowed to decide whether it praised the communist regime or simply the soldiers.

"We should be doing this in peace, without excessive emotions and without trying to aggravate Polish-Russian relations," Ujazdowski said in separate comments on Radio RMF FM. "We absolutely don't want a war."

Poland's relations with Russia have become increasingly edgy in recent years as Moscow has become more assertive toward its neighbors and Poland has aligned with the United States and Western Europe by joining NATO and the European Union.

Recently, relations have been further strained by Poland's willingness to consider a U.S. request to permit a missile defense site on Polish soil.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the European Union and NATO of conniving with nations that disrespect the memory of Soviet soldiers and seek to rewrite history.

Russians regard the monuments as a tribute to the millions of Soviet soldiers who died fighting the Nazis.