Komorowski Claims Poland Election

Bronislaw Komorowski has appeared the victor in the Polish elections:

WARSAW, Poland — Interim president Bronislaw Komorowski appeared to have held off a last-minute surge from the identical twin brother of the late president, who died in an April plane crash that shocked the country and forced Sunday's early election.

It was a hotly contested election.

Poland buries Kaczynski

The nation buried its president Sunday:

The leaders of Poland and Russia attending the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski said on Sunday his death in a plane crash in Russia must serve as a catalyst for reconciliation between the two Slavic nations.

Many leaders could not attend because of the flight bans, but Medvedev made it a point to go, flying despite the bans. Other leaders, like Barack Obama, could not make it despite previously committing to attending.. As unfortunate as the circumstances might be, it's always interesting to see how different countries bury their leaders.

Update: Kraczynski Plane Crash

His body was returned to Warsaw

The investigation has begun to see what has caused the crash. Technical problems have been ruled out:

Speaking at a meeting with the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, who is in charge of the investigation, Russia's chief investigator Alexander Bastrykin, said: "The recordings that we have confirm that there were no technical problems with the plane.

"The pilot was informed about complex weather conditions but nevertheless made a decision to land."

There is a question of why that particular kind of plane was still in use:

However, questions were being asked last night about why a roll-call of Poland's influential politicians and military chiefs were allowed to travel on the same Tu-154 aeroplane. Russian has withdrawn its Tu-154 fleet, the workhorse of Eastern Bloc civil aviation in the 1970s and 80s, from service because the planes are expensive on fuel and do not meet international noise restrictions. While there have been 66 crashes involving the planes in the last four decades, Poland has not retired the aeroplane because of cost. The presidential plane was fully overhauled in December.

And of course, why so many dignitaries were on the same flight:

Gregorz Holdanowicz, a Polish military aviation expert, said the only rule as that the president, the prime minister and the speaker could not travel on the same plane. He said that the cost of flying so many out to the event would have been a reason for carrying so many dignitaries on the same flight.

Regardless of the circumstances, this is not going to do anything to help national sentiment against Russia. A very tragic story.

RIP President Kaczynski

This is really sad:

MOSCOW — A plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, his wife and other high-ranking officials crashed in a heavy fog in western Russia on Saturday morning, killing all aboard, Polish officials said.

The crash will not help to heal the wounds from the past, especially considering that's what his trip to Russia was all about.