As a result of volcanic ash disturbances volcano in Iceland, commercial aviation and presidential countries in Europe and the United States (U.S.) disrupted. This also affects the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Poland to attend the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski. As reported by Reuters, Merkel is still 'stuck' in San Francisco and has not been able to return to Berlin for almost 36 hours because the volcanic ash disturbances. Thus, he could not attend the funeral. "He called the foreign minister of Poland and convey a sense of remorse can not come to the funeral," said a German government spokesman. Meanwhile, Obama also cancel his visit to Poland due to the ban was imposed in Europe. Obama finally delivered direct sense of remorse at Plt President Bronisław Komorowski. "I've spoken with President Komorowski and said I was sorry not to Poland due to the issue of volcanic ash," he said in Washington. "Michelle and I will always make the citizens of Poland in prayer and our hope. And it will always be our support in any effort to repair the disaster that happened. President Kaczynski is a patriot and a close friend of the U.S.," he added. Merkel and Obama had been due to attend the funeral to be held in Krakow, Poland. Preparation has been done at the airport by the Polish government to welcome them.
Meanwhile, there are also leaders of other countries who will use a landline. They are Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip, President Traian Băsescu Rumaia and Slovenian President Danilo Turk. Slovenian President has to travel 850 km along the path towards Poland. Meanwhile, President of the Czech Republic must take the distance of 525 km. He will use the cars and trains to reach the location of the funeral. Prime Minister of Estonia is a state leader who will travel the farthest distance of up to 1300km, equivalent to 18 hours of travel to reach the location of the funeral. This would be done if the flights in Europe are still experiencing problems.