PM says Smolensk air disaster should be last Polish tragedy

Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland's prime minister, has said Poland must do everything to make the 2010 Smolensk air disaster that killed 96 people, including the president, the last tragedy in the history of the nation.

The prime minister published his words on Twitter on the 12th anniversary of the fatal presidential plane crash in Smolensk, Russia.

A delegation of high-rank Polish officials, which included then President Lech Kaczyński, was on its way to attend events marking the 70th anniversary of the 1940 Katyn Massacre, in which close to 22,000 Polish POWs, mainly army officers, policemen and administration staff, were murdered at the hands of the Soviets.

"Poland has always paid the price in blood for its freedom," Morawiecki wrote. "We must do everything to make the Smolensk disaster the last tragedy in our history."

The prime minister said that the Smolensk disaster was a turning point for Poland.

"Even in the most difficult moments, we can choose our fate for the future," he wrote.