All entertainment, concerts and sporting events have been cancelled, as well as comedy and music shows on television. Flags over the presidential palace, parliament and other public offices have been at half-mast as a sign of respect for the dead. Thousands of people came to the Polish Embassy in Tbilisi flowers and signed a book of condolences at the Youth Palace, the former residence of the czar’s governor-generals in the Caucasus, the most beautiful building in Tbilisi. Saakashvili has awarded Kaczynski the title of national hero of Georgia posthumously.
"The Polish President was one of the most consistent allies of Georgia,” the Georgian leader said in an interview with CNN. “Our country has lost a great friend and defender, and Poland and Europe have lost a great politician…He always stood beside Georgia. His name is unforgettable for us in connection with the role he played during the August 2008 war. Georgia has seldom had such friends,” he added "In this pragmatic world, he stood by his principles and high spirituality. When we were bombed, he came to Georgia, in spite of the warnings against the impending danger and supported us in our fight for freedom. The Katyn tragedy meant a great deal to Kaczynski. I will try to imitate him. He was a great man. Thank you to the Polish people for electing him as president. Lech Kaczynski was the high Polish spirit personified."
Saakashvili broke off a visit to the U.S. to attend Kaczynski’s funeral in person. Saakashvili’s attitudes to the late president can be explained easily. Under Kaczynski’s presidency, Poland was the main lobbyist for Georgia in the European Union. For example, after Russia had put an embargo on Georgian products in 2006, Poland opened its market for Georgian wine and Borjomi mineral water. And the main thing is that in August 2008 Kaczynski initiated the visit of the leaders of Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia to Tbilisi and he was warned that the attempt of landing in Tbilisi could be fatal. The pilots then insisted on their landing the plane carrying the five eastern European politicians in the Azerbaijani city Ganja. The escort got from there to Tbilisi in three hours. In return, in Rustaveli Avenue the "European friends" were met with a rally, held under the slogan «Stop Russia!». Talking at the rally, Lech Kaczynski denounced Russia and expressed full support for Georgia.
President Saakashvili has repeatedly said that it was this action that forced the Russian military command to abandon its plans of attacking Tbilisi: "Moscow realized that the international community wouldn’t stand for the seizure of Tbilisi. Thus, Lech Kaczynski saved our country’s independence" Georgian-Polish ties have a long history. In the 19th, after repeated anti-imperial rebellions, Polish noblemen were banished to Georgia. Descendants of many of them later became distinguished members of the Georgian artistic and political elite, e.g. the well-known actor Jackob Tripolsky and Victor Domukhovsky one of the closest comrades of the first Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
In the 1920th, after the “Sovietization” of Georgia, hundreds of Georgian officers went to Poland and fought as the members of the Polish armed forces against the Red Army. The son of one of them, John Malchase Shalikashvili, carried on his family's tradition, embarking on a military career in the USA and became the head of the U.S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Georgy Kalatozishvili. Exclusively for VC
