PMI protests against falsification of history by the Russian TV Rossija 1

Attn.: Ms. Vanessa O’Connor, Director of Member Relations & Communications, European Broadcasting Union, Geneva, Switzerland

Dear Ms. O’Connor,

I would appreciate if you could accept my letter of protest over the professional misconduct of one of the members of the European Broadcasting Union, the Russian broadcasting company Rossija 1, during a political talk show “Evening with Wladimir Solowjow” on April 4, 2019.

During the program, the journalist of Rossija 1, Wladimir Solowjow, who is one of the most popular Russian TV journalists, stated that Poland killed more Jews than Germany did. He added that Poland belonged to a “gentlemen’s club” with Hitler and therefore Poland is not willing to pay any reparations to Jews. One of the guests of the talk show, a Polish political scientist, Jakub Korejba, politely opposed this grave falsification of history. However, Mr. Solowjow asked Korejba to “get out,” called the security guards of Rossija 1 and expelled his guest from the studio (commenting that he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty). The incident can be seen on YouTube.

Polish Media Issues asked Solowjow via his Twitter account for an explanation and for an apology but he didn’t deem it necessary to respond. So unfortunately, the problem remains unresolved. Solowjow was aggressively distorting history and facts. I am hereby requesting that you open a fair investigation and officially condemn the violation of freedom of expression and the harassment of the Polish scholar by Rossija 1.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Marek Błażejak

Polish Media Issues