Arduous to inform if Poland desires Germany to be “ally or scapegoat”, says German ambassador

It’s exhausting to inform whether or not Poland’s authorities desires Germany to be an “ally” or a “scapegoat”, says the outgoing German ambassador to Warsaw, including that he’s “unable to know the logic” of the ruling Legislation and Justice (PiS) occasion’s strategy to its western neighbour.

In an interview with Polish every day Rzeczpospolita, Ambassador Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven additionally repeated his nation’s place that the difficulty of battle reparations – which PiS claims Germany nonetheless owes Poland – is “closed” so far as Berlin is anxious.

“In PiS circles, there has lengthy been a really clear tendency to publicly assault Germany with a view to win favour with the right-wing citizens on the expense of excellent Polish-German relations,” mentioned von Loringhoven, who the German international ministry this month confirmed will quickly depart his put up.

“I ask myself, what intentions do the present authorities in Warsaw have? Do they need Germany to be a robust ally of Poland, or do they want us to be a scapegoat for their very own inner issues?” he added.

The ambassador claimed that “relations have grow to be much more troublesome” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “That is particularly disturbing as Russia tries to reap the benefits of each divide within the West,” he warned. “I’m due to this fact unable to know the logic of such actions.”

PiS has usually been important of Germany. Jarosław Kaczyński, the occasion’s chairman and Poland’s strongest politician, mentioned final 12 months that the EU is turning into a “Fourth Reich” underneath German dominance. In 2020, he warned that the opposition desires to show Poland into “an appendage of Germany”.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, main figures in Poland’s ruling camp have criticised numerous features of Germany’s response to the battle. Each the president, Andrzej Duda, and prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, have accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of prioritising financial pursuits over the lives of Ukrainians.

Final month, Duda additionally accused Berlin of reneging on a promise to present tanks to Poland to interchange these Warsaw has donated to Ukraine. The German authorities denies this, saying that Poland has made unrealistic calls for for essentially the most trendy tanks.

PiS has additionally lengthy argued that Germany nonetheless owes Poland a big quantity – probably a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} – in reparations for the destruction it prompted throughout its occupation within the Second World Conflict.

“PiS not talks about reconciliation, solely the problems of guilt and reparations,” von Loringhoven informed Rzeczpospolita. “The assaults on Germany are asymmetrical: I don’t recall any instance throughout my mission right here of the German authorities publicly placing Poland within the pillory in an analogous approach.”

“Right here it’s essential to separate the authorized side, reparations – the place, from the perspective of Germany, the matter is closed – from the ethical dimension, the place the stability of tragic historical past and the burden of German sins will all the time stay current,” he added.

Berlin argues that Poland formally renounced its declare to reparations in 1953. Nevertheless, main figures in PiS have argued that that’s not the case, and likewise notice that Poland was underneath communist rule on the time and never impartial.

von Loringhoven mentioned he feared that PiS’s criticism of Germany would intensify forward of subsequent 12 months’s parliamentary elections. However he warned that the coverage of exerting public strain on Germany – for instance over sanctions in opposition to Russia or the instructing of the German nationwide minority – is “counterproductive”.

“Such issues must be mentioned in privateness,” he argued. “If they’re introduced out into the open, it’s far more troublesome to get Germany, like another associate, to be versatile.”

Nevertheless, the ambassador additionally famous that relations between residents of the 2 nations are more and more beneficial and that Duda and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier are positively disposed in direction of one another.

Throughout a go to by Steinmeier to Warsaw final 12 months, Duda likened the connection between the 2 nations to 2 neighbouring farmers who generally have disputes however are nonetheless ready to marry off their kids to 1 one other.

“Within the face of Russia’s bloody aggression, we should always focus on what’s most essential now: constructing a robust, cohesive West, a robust Europe,” mentioned von Loringhoven. “A robust West shouldn’t be potential with out shut cooperation between Poland and Germany.”

Principal picture credit score: Krystian Maj/KPRM (underneath CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)