Russia's divided critics

The conflict between Poland's President Lech Kaczyński and Prime Minister Donald Tusk was rekindled last week after the president and the government expressed differing views on how the EU should respond to recent developments in the conflict between Russiaand Georgia.

Last Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that his country had recognized the independence of the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Medvedev cited the need to protect the lives of the provinces' inhabitants as the rationale behind the move and called on other countries to follow suit. The decision was widely condemned by European politicians, including Poland's top authorities.

"Such actions, which completely violate international law, stir my protest and condemnation," President Kaczyński said in a statement. "We categorically oppose the undermining of Georgia's territorial unity as recognized by international boundaries, as well as all attempts at limiting Georgian sovereignty," he added.

The president was said to favor EU sanctions against Russia, while the government was of the opinion that the chance of implementing such sanctions was slim and that Polandshould not call for them at the special EU summit that was scheduled to take place on September 1.

As the WBJ went to press, both President Kaczyński and Prime Minister Tusk were expected to participate in the summit and there were some signals from the respective chancelleries that a common stance had been worked out. The politicians met last Friday in an attempt to hammer out the differences. The day before, President Kaczyński went to the Estonian capital of Tallinn to discuss the EU's response to Russiawith the heads of the Baltic states.