Life is funny if you're the Polish President. One day the leader of the free world is greeting you as an honoured guest at the Oval Office, telling anyone who cares to listen that you were a crucial coalition partner in the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
And the next day? Well, you might find yourself publicly complaining about being persona non grata in a Newfoundland airport, asserting that Canadian customs officers treated you as a "potential illegal immigrant" instead of in a manner befitting a head of state.
This, at least, is what Aleksander Kwasniewski said yesterday at a news conference in Warsaw. On the way home from a visit to U.S. President George W. Bush, his plane was forced by a snowstorm to refuel in St. John's instead of Gander.
Mr. Kwasniewski said he and everyone else aboard were held in an area of the airport and not allowed to leave for about three hours.
"We saw what it feels like when an unexpected guest arrives who in the beginning is treated as a potential illegal immigrant. And that is how we were treated," Mr. Kwasniewski said. "The passengers from my plane were held in a place where we could not leave. . . . it all took about three hours."
Speaking in a "good-natured" manner, according to Reuters news agency, he noted that he was placed above scrutiny only after some Polish sailors recognized him and asked for his autograph.
He did not give any more details about the incident.
As politely as possible, Canadian officials are expressing strong disagreement with his account.
"At no time was President Kwasniewski ever suspected of being an illegal immigrant," said Kimberly Phillips, a spokeswoman for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs. She said no one was detained.
Nevertheless, she said Canada has expressed regrets to Poland for any inconvenience suffered by the President or his entourage of government officials and journalists.
Before the plane was rerouted, Mounties had been awaiting the delegation in Gander, but airport workers in St. John's had to scramble to get things ready.
Customs officials met the delegation upon arrival, took them to a transit area and asked whether they intended to spend the night in Newfoundland or simply wait out the stop, Ms. Phillips said. Leaving the airport would have required temporary visas. But Ms. Phillips said the delegation decided to wait out the refuelling.
Everyone did the best they could to accommodate the delegation, she said, including RCMP officers who escorted the President to the executive boardroom of the recently refurbished airport.
A spokesman for the Polish embassy in Ottawa could give no further details of the incident. In Washington, the day before the Canadian stopover, Mr. Kwasniewski and his entourage were in more lavish surroundings, chatting with Mr. Bush and holding court with reporters in the White House.
It was a post-Iraq love-in. Mr. Bush promised his counterpart $66-million in military equipment, mostly C-130 transport aircraft. In return, Mr. Kwasniewski talked up the threat once posed by Saddam Hussein's yet-to-be-discovered weapons of mass destruction.
At the press conference, Mr. Bush, frequently accused of overstating the Iraqi threat, suggested his friend tended to exaggerate the visa plight of Polish Americans. "Poland is our great friend," Mr. Bush said. "There are thousands of Polish Americans who . . ."
"Millions," interrupted Mr. Kwasniewski.
"Millions, excuse me," said Mr. Bush. "I just don't want to overstate the case here."
Mr. Kwasniewski reminded Mr. Bush that the "millions and millions" of Polish Americans would be voting in the U.S. presidential election. "The future of the world is without visa, not with visa," he said.
