The President and the Prime Minister have agreed that the Prime Minister will issue a special statement precisely outlining Poland's historical position following the confrontational statements by the President of Russia - 300POLITYKA has learned. The President and Prime Minister have decided that the timing of the Polish statement will demonstrate that, contrary to earlier critics, Poland is not getting drawn into nervous verbal bickering, and its stance will be firm, with its timing indicating it is being made on our terms - we hear. At the President's request, historical authorities are involved in preparing Poland's position - including Prof. Andrzej Nowak. Prof. Nowak's latest book, a close collaborator of the President, the fourth part of "The History of Poland," was recognized by Piotr Zaremba as one of the events of the past year: "Nowak not only vividly describes Poland's history but also tries to find a broader, axiological basis for Polishness. This basis is the love of freedom." For several days, the President and the Prime Minister have been in constant contact, coordinating the actions of their staff and gathering all signals from intelligence services and Polish diplomats in major capitals. According to 300POLITYKA's interlocutors: "Polish leaders have recognized that Vladimir Putin's exceptionally aggressive tone opens up an opportunity to present Poland's clear position." The Polish authorities also want to show that the time elapsed between Putin's speech and the presentation of Poland's stance proves that Poland is not being provoked into the kind of provocative actions characteristic of the Russian administration, reminiscent of Soviet services - we hear from diplomatic circles. Therefore, the timing of the Russian ambassador's summons to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not accidental – Friday evening, after the media cycle had run its course. - Poland is showing its partners in NATO and the EU that it is maintaining nerves of steel and is not being provoked into rash actions - states a 300POLITYKA interlocutor, adding that the President and Prime Minister are fully aware that the tone and intensity of Russian provocations will increase as the anniversary events of the liberation of Auschwitz approach - at the site of the former German camp, as well as in Israel.

Following 300POLITYKA's publication about a planned joint statement by the president and prime minister, opposition politicians have spoken out. The head of the EPP appealed for a unified stance from the authorities and the opposition:

Wobec bezczelnych kłamstw prezydenta Putina i rosyjskiej propagandy potrzebne jest wspólne stanowisko polskich władz i opozycji. Tu nie ma miejsca i czasu na wewnętrzny spór.

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) December 29, 2019

The Civic Platform candidate called on the government and the president to react more swiftly:

W ostatnich dniach jesteśmy świadkami rosyjskiej ofensywy propagandowej, która szkaluje Polskę i próbuje zmienić Jej rolę w historii. Ze zdumieniem obserwuję bierność i bezradność rządu. Wzywam prezydenta @AndrzejDuda do podjęcia pilnych działań. Gdzie Pan jest Panie Prezydencie?

— M. Kidawa-Błońska (@M_K_Blonska) December 29, 2019

The presidential spokesperson, in response to Kidawa, appealed for more restraint in reactions and less partisan maneuvering around Putin's provocation:

Szanowna Pani Marszałek, to sa bardzo poważne sprawy, apeluje o więcej powsciągliwości i spokoju a mniej partyjnej gry. To są sprawy państwa. Prezydent działa profesjonalnie i spokojnie https://t.co/WUYYvMUrbY

— BSpychalski (@spychalski_b) December 29, 2019

President Putin has repeatedly lied about Poland. He has always done so knowingly. This usually happens when the authorities in Moscow feel international pressure related to their actions. And this pressure is not in a historical context, but on the most contemporary geopolitical stage. In recent weeks, Russia has suffered several significant defeats: the attempt to completely subordinate Belarus ended in failure, the European Union once again extended sanctions imposed for the illegal annexation of Crimea, and talks in the so-called "Normandy format" not only failed to lead to the lifting of these sanctions, but at the same time, further restrictions were imposed – this time by the Americans – which significantly hinder the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project. Simultaneously, Russian athletes have just been suspended for four years for doping – Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in a statement. I consider President Putin's words as an attempt to hide these problems. The Russian leader is well aware that his accusations have nothing to do with reality – and that there are no monuments to Hitler or Stalin in Poland. Such monuments were only on our land when they were erected by aggressors and criminals – the Third Reich and Soviet Russia – emphasized the head of the Polish government. The Russian nation – the greatest victim of Stalin, one of the cruelest criminals in world history – deserves the truth. I deeply believe that the Russian nation is a nation of free people – and that it rejects Stalinism, even when President Putin's government tries to rehabilitate it. There can be no consent to equate perpetrators with victims, perpetrators of cruel crimes with innocent populations and invaded states. In the name of remembering the victims and in the name of a common future, we must safeguard the truth – PMM stressed.