Obama to attend funeral in Poland for President Lech Kaczynski

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President Obama plans to travel to Poland to attend the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria Kaczynska, who died along with other government officials in a crash of the presidential aircraft.

Obama is set to travel to Krakow on Saturday for the Sunday funeral, the White House announced on Tuesday.

The president will attend the funeral ‘to express the depth of our condolences to an important and trusted ally, and our support for the Polish people, on behalf of the American people,’ the White House press secretary said in an issued statement.

The Obama administration had been closely involved in talks with Poland and the Czech Republic about a defensive missile shield -- basing radar in the Czech Republic and missiles in Poland -- that the Bush administration had planned. Obama suspended that plan, which was a sore point in relations with Russia.

Last week, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a treaty to curtail the nuclear arsenals of both nations. Today, Obama convened a nuclear security summit in Washington with leaders from 46 other nations, including Russia and China, with a goal of guarding against nuclear threats from terrorists.
The Polish-Czech missile defense was intended to guard against attacks from ‘rogue’ nations. The administration has maintained it can operate that defensive shield from other bases.

-- Mark Silva