It is with Moscow that should be addressed directly

After the reconciliation between the France and the Germany and between the Germany and the Poland, the current rapprochement between the Russia and the Poland is confirm the status of Europe as the "continent of reconciliation"

The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmitri Lavrov, this summer was the guest of the Conference of ambassadors of Poland in Warsaw. And in Moscow, the Conference of ambassadors of Russia President Dimitri Medvedev presented the process of reconciliation with the Poland as one of the major advances of the Russian diplomacy.

With this new development, it should be to avoid two pitfalls, the excess of naivety and cynicism excess.

With emphasis on their determination to transcend a past painful symbolisé by the massacre, on order of Stalin, Polish elite at Katyn in 1940, Moscow and Warsaw pursue parallel even if they are not similar. It is for the Russians as for poles to strengthen their image. "Look how we've changed, we are capable of emotion and compassion," tell us the Russians. In the aftermath of the tragedy of Smolensk, which has seen the disappearance in a plane crash of a substantial part of the elite military and political Poland, the Poland in Moscow Embassy was surrounded by "bouquets of flowers and not barbed wire". At a time where the progress of the Russian economy are not up to the expectations of its leaders, why not address, in part at least, this "lack of image For the Poland, the issue is less ethical than diplomatic. It is normal that way. The Poland is not only the most "democratic" country of the two. She is also the one who most suffered and the centuries of the presence of "Russian bear" at his side. For Warsaw, the process of reconciliation with Moscow is proof that it is "a great of Europe" and "the bridge" which the European Union in its relationship with the Russia. Since the Ukraine is more or less revenue in the sphere of influence of the Russia, be a bridge with Kiev has more so of service. It is with Moscow that should be addressed directly.

This realistic vision is necessary, but it is not sufficient. There, beyond the calculations of the leaders, are the emotions of the people. The search for historical truth - in the heart of the process of reconciliation - is a protection against the return of the old demons. "The truth about Katyn is even more important for the Russians as the poles", said a few days ago at Ifri, a Conference on the theme of reconciliation, Russian historian Natalya Lebiedeva. "For poles, Katyn, the past, for the Russians, it is the future: it is the spectrum of the possible return of Stalinism."

The reality is more complex. In Poland also, there is a resurgence of a foul-smelling populism. Several months after the tragedy in Smolensk, theories on the "Russian conspiracy" bloom. But the Poland is a true democracy. Russia today, the nostalgia of Stalinism, this into textbooks, is of a most alarming nature.

Can the process of reconciliation, which actively contribute the Polish Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, represent a form of self-protection for the two countries More than 30 millions of Russians who have seen the television film Andrzej Wajda on Katyn will no longer watch Stalinism with nostalgia of the "greatness".

Any process of reconciliation between two countries leads to a dynamic that is not only bilateral. Reconciliation between the France and the Germany was the condition and the starting point for the construction of Europe. Can reconciliation between the Poland and the Russia contribute to give a new breath to the European continent at a time where it is earned by doubt or paralysis The Weimar triangle - between Paris, Berlin and Warsaw - can revitalize the Franco-German relationship Will the Russia via the Poland to rediscover European