This Sunday Poland marked the 80th anniversary of the Nazi German attack that was recognized by history as the beginning of World War II.  

Capital Warsaw was the place where the main ceremony was held. Representatives from 40 countries gathered, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. He traveled there in place of President Donald Trump, who postponed the visit to monitor a hurricane approaching the U.S. East Coast.  

And that was just one of the controversies surrounding that event. Besides Pence, the most notable figures present were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.  

There were others too: presidents, parliament speakers, heads of governments, ministers, and ambassadors, but only from the hand-picked states by the Polish hosts. 

That's why Poland hasn't invited countries like Russia, which lost over 20 million people in WWII, then China, which also lost a similar number of its citizens, and Serbia, one of the countries that suffered by the percentage – the most of its population.  

The official explanation, given by the Polish side, was that at the ceremony they've decided to focus only on their NATO allies and friends from the Eastern Partnership. It is the EU's waiting room for the Eastern European countries with EU membership aspirations.  

Angry reactions from Moscow and Belgrade were inevitable. They pointed out that Poland has invited representatives of countries that inflicted the most suffering like Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia and Bulgaria. At the same time, some of the nations that suffered the most were excluded. 

Unsatisfied with the official Polish explanation, and in solidarity with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Belorussian President Aleksandar Lukashenko declined the invitation and instead sent the country's ambassador to the ceremony.

Apology from Germany

At the ceremony held next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw city center, three speakers took the stage. First was the host, Polish President Andrzej Duda. He addressed the horrors and suffering of the Polish people during that bloody conflict. Duda also drew a line with the current situation in Ukraine linking the Nazi attack to Poland 80 years ago and Russia's actions in Crimea.  

German President Steinmeier followed him. The former foreign minister of Germany gave a very emotional speech, in which he gave a heartfelt apology for what Germany did to Poland. He assumed guilt for what his country did during the Nazi era, but he fell short of apologizing to all nations that suffered from the Nazi invasion.  

Read more: 

Germany asks Poland's forgiveness 80 years after WWII outbreak

Poland gladly accepted that apology, but on the same day, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki raised the question of war reparations from Germany – a tear that still bothers the relations between the two countries, since Germany considers that matter a long-closed question. 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gave a final speech at the event, with focus more on the U.S. political views on the current situation in Europe than the memory of all the nations that had suffered during the conflict. 

In a world full of tensions, misunderstandings and conflicting interests, this event seemed like a good chance for rapprochement among the divided sides. The event that the entire world should have joined in commemorating a war that should never be repeated in human history, at the end, seemed to be a lost chance and wasted opportunity.

(Cover: Polish army units parade at the commemorative event for the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII in Warsaw, Poland, September 1, 2019. /CGTN Photo)