Polish Chancellor Radoslaw Sikorski said on a visit to Colombia that democracies should work together to combat terrorism, and received condolences from President Alvaro Uribe and Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez over the recent death of Polish politicians in a plane crash, according to a Foreign Ministry press release.
Chancellor Sikorski said Thursday at a press conference in Bogota “We believe that democracies should help each other. That’s why we support democracy in Poland and condemn terrorism.”
He said that Poland is convinced that terrorism, regardless of its supposed ideological justification, is totally unacceptable.
Jaime Bermudez Merizalde said “Colombia wishes to reiterate a message of condolence, but also of deep solidarity with the people of the Polish government regarding the deaths of 96 people, including political leaders and the president of that country.”
On April 10 a Polish air force aircraft carrying 96 people crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing everyone on board, including the Polish president Lech Kaczynski, the chief of the Polish general staff, senior military officers, the president of the National Bank of Poland, the deputy forign minister and other government and parliamentary officials.
Bermudez said that he knew 90 of the people who were killed, describing it as “one of those human tragedies that hurt deeply.”
“Colombia tremendously appreciates the fact that a Polish foreign minister is in our country, for it strengthens the bilateral relationship,” continued Bermudez, saying that, despite the tragedy, the fact that the Polish official had decided to visit Colombia was a “sign of institutional strength, a sign of professionalism and a friendly gesture that we value dearly.”
The Polish minister was optimistic about future relations and trade between the two countries.
