Logo Polskiego Radia

Sikorski ‘European’ speech penned by British diplomat?

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 05.12.2011 12:38
Following Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s speech in Berlin last week, rumours have emerged that the text was not written by himself, but by a retired British diplomat.
Screenshot
Screenshot of Sikorski's speech with Charles Crawford's name appearing as the author in the file's metadata.

A number of Polish websites claim that the author of Sikorski’s speech is in fact Charles Crawford, a former UK ambassador in Poland between 2003-2007.

Sikorski’s speech [file here, PDF] last Monday urged Germany to help lead Europe out of the financial crisis, with Poland’s chief diplomat saying that ke now fears “German power less than […] German inactivity.” In essence, the speech gives the go-ahead for a German-led federal Europe and calls for deeper integration within the bloc.

The allegation comes after Sikorski’s speech, which is freely available for downloading on the Polish Foreign Ministry website, names Crawford as the document’s author (see picture).

Charles Crawford has since denied the claim, stating on his blog that “anyone who knows Radek Sikorski will recognise his own inimitable style throughout the text.”

According to Crawford’s blogpost, “the Polish Foreign Ministry has put out a statement to the effect that for substantive and linguistic purposes the Minister had consulted all sorts of people including myself on the speech, and then written it himself , making changes even on the plane to Berlin.” (jb)

Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us