How to charm and educate the world with a sharp retort

2024-05-31

Four minutes were enough for the Polish foreign minister to move the world and correct the lies of Russian propaganda. It was precisely the conciseness and brilliance that characterised the speakers whose speeches made history.

On the second anniversary of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, a debate took place in the UN Security Council that took an unexpected turn. First, the Russian ambassador Vasily Niebienzia presented his government’s point of view on Ukraine. He repeated long-familiar platitudes about the fascist regime in Kiev, the neo-colonialist policy of the USA as the cause of the war or the alleged Polish aggression against the Soviet Union during the Second World War.

However, it was only the speech by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski that attracted worldwide attention. In a four-minute, spontaneously prepared speech, he pointed out all the lies of the Russian diplomat.

Tongue-in-cheek but convincing
He [Niebienzia – ed.] calls Ukraine a client of the West. In fact, Kiev is fighting to be independent (…). He calls them Nazis. Well, their president is a Jew, their defence minister a Muslim and they have no political prisoners. He says Ukraine is wallowing in corruption. Well, Alexei Navalny has documented how clean and full of integrity his country is. He blames the war on US neo-colonialism. In fact, it was Russia that tried to exterminate Ukraine in the 19th century, then the Bolsheviks did it, and now we have a third attempt – Sikorski said.

The Polish minister also recalled that it was the Soviet Union together with Nazi Germany that invaded Poland in 1939, not the other way around. – They even held a joint victory parade on 22 September, Sikorski reminded Russia of the now inconvenient fact of the Brest parade. He then turned to history again, contradicting the claim that Russia always only repelled aggression. – What were the Russian troops doing at the gates of Warsaw in August 1920? Were they there on a sightseeing tour? – Sikorski ironically asked.

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