Pl vs Ru

Quick Cliff Notes run down of Polish Russian relationships post Communist era.

* 1989 - Poland is the first Soviet satellite to overthrow communism,triggering the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and the communist regime in Russia itself.

* 1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin releases secret clauses of the1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thatshows they agreed to carved up Poland at outbreak of World War Two. Yeltsinalso gives Poland documents showing Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the execution of thousands of Polish POWs at the Katyn forest.

* 1993 - Yeltsin visits Poland and is feted by the hero of the Polishanti-communist struggle,President Lech Walesa. Walesa obtains Yeltsin's declaration that Russia would not object toPolish NATO entry -- which causes an outcry back in Moscow. The Kremlin backtracks and launches a drive to warn the alliance against accepting itsformer satellites. Last Russian soldiers stationed on Polish soil since World War Two leave.

* 1999 - Despite vehement Russian protests, NATO admits Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

* 2004 - Poland joins the European Union. President Aleksander Kwasniewski meets Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Ties strained over Polish reluctance to allow Russian energy companies buy Polish peers. Kwasniewski infuriates Putin by leading the EU mediation in Ukraine following the rigged presidential election there in December 2004. A re-run results in victory for pro-Western candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.

* 2005 - Conservative Law and Justice led by brothers Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski wins power in Poland, taking a sharply anti-Russian course. Moscow imposes a ban on Polish farm imports. In December, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and its German partners agree to built an undersea gas pipe bypassing Poland. Radoslaw Sikorski, then defence minister who is now foreign minister, compares the agreement to theMolotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

* 2007 - Poland declares it is ready to host a U.S. missile defence system on its soil, sparking a violent reaction from Putin who says the move brings back the Cold War. In May, Poland blocks talks on a new EU-Russia strategic partnership overthe meat ban. In October, centre-right Civic Platform party wins a parliamentary election, with its leaderand future prime minister Donald Tusk promising to improve ties with Russia. In November, Poland lifts veto on Russia's talks to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Russia reciprocates by lifting ban on Polish meat imports.

* 2008 - Foreign Minister Sikorski meets Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrovin January, who says Moscow would not put pressure on Warsaw over its readiness to host the U.S.missile shield.

Compulation from Reuters.

Blogger's Note: Expect things to get worse in the coming years. Russia is a back stabber with Oil and Natural Gas to hold over the EU's head like the 'Sword of Damocles'. If you know anything about the quality of Russian thread -