Duda: Poland and Germany are like farmers who argue sometimes but still marry off their children

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, in Warsaw on Thursday to mark the anniversary of a 1991 treaty that established a new era of relations between the countries after the fall of communism.

Duda likened the relationship between the two countries – which have been strained in recent years, in particular over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – to two neighbouring farmers that sometimes have disputes but are still prepared to marry off their children to one another.

Steinmeier declared that Polish-German relations have been “one of Europe’s greatest successes in the past 30 years”. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed the status of their respective national minorities in each other’s countries and plans for a memorial to Polish victims of World War Two in Berlin.

However, Poland’s ambassador to Berlin sparked controversy with a speech in Potsdam accusing German media of propagating an “anti-Polish narrative” characterised by “obvious lies” relating to the state of Polish democracy and LGBT rights.

The Treaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation was signed between the Republic of Poland, which had just emerged from over four decades under communism, and the recently reunified Federal Republic of Germany on 17 June 1991, to mark the start of a new era of relations.

That treaty was also preceded by one on the border between the two countries, and Duda declared yesterday that he is “glad that the border between Poland and Germany is open, that it has become a border of trust, not distrust”.

He also acknowledged the fact that the history of the war – when Germany’s occupation of Poland resulted in millions of deaths and enormous destruction – continues to be a difficult area. “There can be no room for blank spots, for taboos, for any falsehood,” said Duda.

The Polish president expressed hope that the two countries could “return to important dialogue on Polish war losses”. The current Polish government believes Germany still owes hundreds of billions of euros in war reparations to Poland, but Berlin rejects such claims, saying that it has already paid compensation.

The two leaders discussed plans for a memorial in Berlin that will honour Polish victims of the war. In November, the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, approved plans for the creation of a “place of remembrance, meetings and discussion”.

The Polish president said yesterday that the process of “reconciliation” between the two nations also needed “places of remembrance” to “warn against” totalitarian ideologies and violence. The pair laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial in Warsaw.

Duda said that he would like for the unveiling of the monument in Berlin to take place “no later than 2024”, so as to coincide with the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.

The presidents also met with young people participating in Polish-German Youth Cooperation projects and discussed their respective national minorities in Poland and Germany.

According to census data, around 148,000 ethnic Germans reside in Poland – most in Silesia, almost half of whom declare both Polish and German ethnicity. The community is given a guaranteed seat in Poland’s national parliament.

“I am proud of the care that Poland has provided to the German minority living in our country,” said Duda. However, he expressed frustration that the “nearly two-million-strong Polish community in Germany does not have the status of a national minority”, reports TVP Info.

“I noted with sorrow the disproportion in negligible financing of Polish diaspora institutions by the German state compared to the generous funding of German minority organisations by the Polish state,” he added.

One issue that was notable absent from public statements by the two leaders was Nord Stream 2, a nearly complete pipeline that will bring Russian gas directly to Germany through the Baltic Sea, thereby bypassing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Warsaw has long opposed the plan, arguing that it will increase dependence on Russia and give Moscow greater leverage in its aggressive behaviour towards countries such as Ukraine.

While the mood in Warsaw yesterday was conciliatory, Poland’s ambassador to Germany, Andrzej Przyłębski, struck a more strident tone during a speech to the Brandenburg Landtag in Potsdam.

He accused German media of present an “anti-Polish narrative” through their coverage of Poland’s allegedly “declining democracy” and “LGBT-free zones“, both of which Przyłębski said were “obvious lies”.

“Five German correspondents in Warsaw are ruining 30 years of Polish-German reconciliation and understanding,” he said, echoing accusations made by Duda during last year’s presidential campaign when he accused German media of seeking to prevent his re-election.

German politicians described the ambassador’s speech as provocative. Green deputy Heiner Klemp said it was “difficult to bear”, while deputy speaker of the parliament Barbara Richstein said the two countries diverged on their views of media and judiciary. 

Main image credit: Grzegorz Jakubowski/KPRP/Prezydent.pl

Maria Wilczek

Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.