Belarus tops agenda on Merkel’s visit to Poland

Warsaw (dpa) – Angela Merkel was making her last visit to Warsaw as German chancellor on Saturday.

During talks with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki the topic of migration from Europe’s eastern borders is in the agenda.

Merkel’s one-day visit began with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an act of remembrance and remorse for the lasting mark Nazi Germany left on its eastern neighbour.

Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 initiated World War II. At least 6 million people were killed in Poland alone.

A main focus of Saturday’s meeting with Morawiecki was the situation on Poland’s border with Belarus, an issue of increasing concern in the EU.

The governments of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have accused Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko of aiding refugees to reach the EU’s external border in large numbers, in retaliation for EU sanctions on Minsk.

Morawiecki and Merkel also want to discuss developments in the coronavirus pandemic and the future of the European Union, officials said.

During her time in office, Merkel – who is stepping down after German elections on September 26 – has visited Germany’s neighbour more than two dozen times since coming to power in 2005.

A meeting between Merkel and President Andrzej Duda, originally announced by the German government, is no longer taking place.

The presidential office in Warsaw said that Duda would instead be in Katowice on Saturday for celebrations marking the anniversary of the Solidarity trade union.

Duda’s office made the announcement that there would be no meeting shortly after Russia said the contentious Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany had been completed, a project long opposed by Poland.

Poland, along with other Eastern European countries and the United States, have criticized the pipeline, calling it a geopolitical project by Moscow that could undermine Europe’s energy security.

Merkel has had a huge impact on German-Polish relations during her time in office, according to Janusz Reiter, Poland’s former ambassador to Germany.

“She has what is called strategic patience,” Reiter told dpa.

But while she usually avoided bold action in regards to Warsaw, Merkel often displayed a single-mindedness, and this helps account for the two countries’ complicated relationship, he said.

Reiter said that the German-Russian pipeline was a good example of how, when push came to shove, Merkel asserted German interests against the criticism and concerns of others.

Ties between Germany and Poland have been cool since the nationalist Law and Justice party took power in 2015, although top German officials had tried to thaw relations during repeated visits in recent years.

Warsaw has been particularly critical of Merkel’s relatively liberal policies on migration in the wake of the 2015 refugee crisis, while Berlin has condemned judicial reforms that the EU has repeatedly said undercut the rule of law.

Tensions also remain between Warsaw and Berlin over the issue of payment of reparations for the German occupation of Poland during World War II, as demanded by some members of Law and Justice.