Poland's foreign minister requests meeting with US ambassador over "unacceptable interference"
Source: Interfax
November 7, 2006
WARSAW. NOVEMBER 7. INTERFAX CENTRAL EUROPE - Poland's Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga has requested a meeting with US Ambassador Victor Ashe Tuesday evening to discuss the alleged calls by a top US diplomat for the sacking of a Polish deputy prime minister. "The minister [Fotyga] has called Mr Ambassador to the ministry to discuss the matter," a foreign ministry spokeswoman told Interfax Tuesday.
Polish officials, led by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, strongly condemned the calls for the sacking of Deputy Prime Minister Roman Giertych for his criticism of the war in Iraq, allegedly made by the deputy head of US mission to Warsaw in a confidential conversation with a Polish deputy foreign minister. The call was revealed by a memo leaked to the press Tuesday.
"Such remarks contravene the standards that govern relations between two sovereign nations," Prime Minister Kaczynski told a press conference. According to the leaked memo, Kenneth Hillas, the deputy mission head, had suggested the sacking of Giertych, who also holds the education portfolio, for his calls to hold a parliamentary debate on the victims of the ongoing war in Iraq.
In an October 25 internal memo, Leszek Jesien, the first deputy minister of foreign affairs, said that Hillas had expressed "concern" about Giertych's proposal.
"KH stated that Deputy Prime Minister R. Giertych's remarks on Iraq ("We want to know how many innocent victims have died in Iraq over the period of the last three years") raised concerns in Washington," the memo reads. "KH emphasized that a lack of reaction on the part of the USA results from an attempt to rationalize events and remarks on the political stage. He noted, however, that, 'had a deputy prime minister in the government of say, Germany, France or Denmark spoken these words, he would have been dismissed.'"
The memo was leaked to the Polish press Tuesday and drew widespread criticism from the Polish media and politicians. Giertych's far-right League of Polish Families (LPR), a junior partner on the government coalition, called for the "thoughtless and plain rude" diplomat to be recalled.
While stopping short of such demands, the prime minister was quick to condemn Hillas's remarks as "unacceptable."
"I would like to say clearly that it is not so that anyone whatsoever can say who will, or will not, sit on the Polish Cabinet," Prime Minister Kaczynski said. "We will always regard this as unacceptable interference with our domestic affairs."
The memo itself bears handwritten comments by Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who wrote "interference with domestic affairs."
While the memo was only addressed to the prime minister and three ministers (for defense, foreign affairs and secret services), it was not marked as classified, meaning its leaking was likely not illegal. According to the memo, Hillas also criticized remarks by some of Giertych's political allies as anti-Semitic and Nazi-leaning.
