Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in Poland’s ancient capital yesterday for the burial of late Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife, but volcanic ash over Europe prevented many world leaders from joining them.
US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among those forced by the ash cloud to abandon plans to attend the funeral in Krakow for Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, killed in a plane crash in western Russia on April 10.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, however, did manage to fly to the city, reinforcing a strong message of Russian solidarity since the crash that has raised Polish hopes for an improvement in long-strained ties with their communist-era overlord.
The funeral at Krakow’s Wawel Cathedral crowned a week of unprecedented national mourning for the Kaczynskis and 94 others, mostly senior political and military officials, who also died.
Police said about 60,000 people had gathered in central Krakow ahead of the transportation of the Kaczynskis’ coffins to Wawel Cathedral at 2:30pm where they would be placed in the crypt alongside Polish kings, national heroes and poets.
The coffins were taken to Krakow by military plane early yesterday, flying at low altitude because of the ash cloud that has shut Poland’s airspace and that of many other European countries to commercial traffic.
Kaczynski’s twin brother, Jaroslaw, a former prime minister, and other family members insisted the funeral go ahead yesterday as planned. The family, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Interim President Bronislaw Komorowski traveled to Krakow by train.
Obama said he regretted being unable to attend the funeral. US Ambassador Lee Feinstein was scheduled to represent him.
“President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led,” Obama said in a statement shortly before he had been scheduled to fly.
Merkel of Germany, Poland’s western neighbor and biggest trade partner, also expressed regret at having to call off her trip. The German president and foreign minister flew to Krakow from Berlin by helicopter for the funeral.
Leaders of other relatively nearby countries, such as Ukraine and the Czech Republic, were also expected to attend.
Medvedev’s presence was ironic, given that Kaczynski was a stern critic of what he called Russia’s “imperialism” toward former Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Ukraine.
Kaczynski flew to Georgia during its short 2008 war with Russia to demonstrate Polish solidarity with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The Georgian leader was also scheduled to attend the funeral.
When their plane crashed in thick fog, Kaczynski and his entourage had been heading to Katyn forest in western Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals by the Soviet secret police.
Wawel Cathedral was the coronation site of virtually all of Poland’s monarchs and the adjacent castle was the center of government for five centuries until the end of the 16th century.
Some Poles have staged protest rallies and joined petitions against the decision to bury Kaczynski in such a hallowed spot.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique