Warsaw with a policy of confrontation towards Berlin

2023-05-06 08:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Germany and Poland have deepened economic and even military relations. But Warsaw intensifies the anti-German campaign, with demands for reparations and opposition to the German leadership role in the EU, writes Auron Dodi.

Germany has traditionally served the national conservative forces in Poland to instill fear. With a rich fantasy, they have accused Germany of determining the direction of the EU and intending to limit Poland's sovereignty; other times they have presented Germany as an inhibitor of Poland's economic development, due to German economic dominance in the EU; in the most radical form they deny Germany the legitimacy to lead the EU, because of its previous policy towards Russia.

There is a fixation of Poland on Germany, at a time when for Germany Poland is one of several important neighbors. In a media article last year, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said that the EU "does not need German leadership, but German self-restraint." This statement sounds diametrically opposed to the 2011 statement of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski: "Today I fear German power less than German inaction."

Currently, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Poland has publicly criticized Germany for its initial reluctance to send weapons to Ukraine. What is inexcusable according to the Polish government is that Germany ignored Polish warnings about the danger of economic ties with Russia, especially for the Nordstream gas pipeline.

With a campaign supported by both the Polish parliament and the government, Poland has gone even further: it is asking Germany to pay reparations for World War II damage. 1.3 billion euros is the amount of reparations decided by a committee of the Polish parliament.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, accused Germany in December 2021 of even trying to turn the EU "into a German Fourth Reich." Two months ago, the European Court of Justice sentenced Poland with a fine of 1 million euros per day, for serious legal violations and ignoring the Court's decision.

The reaction of the German government and historians to the reparations

This instrumentalization of old and new history by the Polish government is followed by disappointment in Germany. Regarding the reparations, the German government has responded in writing that it considers them closed. In October 2022, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared in Warsaw that "Germany accepts its historical responsibility, without any doubt". But he added that "the issue of reparations is closed, from the point of view of the German government".

According to independent Polish historians, Poland received reparations after World War II. He received them through the Soviet Union, as decided in 1945 at the Potsdam conference. Reparations were in the form of machinery and equipment, factories, and cargo ships. Above all, the Soviet Union compensated Poland with the eastern territories of Germany, from which Poland displaced the German population.

In 1957, in a declaration still valid today, the Polish government renounced further reparations to both Germanys. The Soviet Union had also taken this step, after the uprising in the GDR in 1956. Poland now says that it did so due to Soviet pressure.

After 1990, the German government paid 500 million German marks into a global fund for Poland. Previously, forced laborers and victims of health experiments were compensated.

The British press recently drew attention to the fact that Poland does not ask for reparations from Russia, either, for plans to divide Poland with Germany in World War II. For Poland, Russia is "another civilization" that comes after Germany. This was the answer of a Polish state secretary to the Financial Times newspaper.

Germany - the world's third supplier of weapons to Ukraine

Regarding armaments for Ukraine, the German authorities recall that Germany is today the world's third supplier of weapons to Ukraine. Today, Germany hosts the largest number of Ukrainian refugees among Western countries: 1.1 million refugees from Ukraine are currently in Germany.

Regarding the German-Russian economic ties, the authorities remember that Poland has imported coal from Russia before.

The Polish government registers changes in German security policy and those towards the East. But you see them as simply insufficient. German Ambassador to Poland Thomas Bagger told the media that he clarifies there more insistently, that the "change of eras" in Germany is irreversible. We are dealing with a real political and mental change.

But Poland demands a radical isolationist attitude towards Russia, from Germany and from the EU. There are fears in Warsaw that Germany and the West may try to negotiate peace with Russia to prevent an escalation of the war.

One of the explanations for this behavior is the Polish historical trauma, which has to do with the loss of sovereignty and freedom. And the historical trauma of Germany (and the West) is the escalation of the situation and destruction.

Berlin-Warsaw economic relations with significant development

German analysts draw attention to the fact that the Berlin-Warsaw relationship has become important for Europe, from a geostrategic and political point of view.

From an economic point of view, Poland has advanced to the fifth trading partner of Germany. The volume of economic cooperation between Germany and Poland is now only slightly smaller than that between Germany and France.

In 2022, trade between the two countries grew by 14 percent, tripling the volume of Germany's trade with Russia. The importance of Poland is expected to increase, as an alternative supplier for Germany, after the sanctions against Russia.

The Mercedes-Benz concern decided in December 2022 to invest 1 billion dollars in Poland: to build an all-electric van factory there. Meanwhile, Poland supplies oil to the German refineries in Schwedt and Leuna, after the interruption of supply from Russia.

Cooperation also goes smoothly in the military field: Poland and Germany send battle tanks to Ukraine together. Finally, Germany recently made a Patriot missile defense system available to Poland. 300 German soldiers to command the system are stationed in southern Poland, initially until June.

Motives of the Polish attitude towards Germany

Various observers see in the anti-German and anti-European campaign of the Polish government short-term and long-term motives.

Short-term motives concern parliamentary elections in Poland this fall. The Law and Justice party government fears it may lose its majority. That's why he thinks that by turning Germany into a shooting table, he especially pleases a part of the old electorate, which grew up in communism with anti-German stories.

On the other hand, the Polish government intends to unmask the liberal opposition around Donald Tusk, whom it presents as an agent of German interests. To escape the charge of unpatriotic attitude, the Polish opposition also recently voted in favor of the request for reparations to Germany.

Politikanët konservatorë polakë e shohin Poloninë tani në një fazë fuqie, kurse Gjermaninë në një fazë dobësie. Dobësinë e lidhin me dështimin e politikës së mëparshme gjermane ndaj Lindjes dhe me vështirësitë për burime energjetike të Gjermanisë.

Në plan afatgjatë, fitimin papritur të rëndësisë gjeopolitike, kjo qeveri polake preferon ta përdorë si kundërpeshë ndaj Gjermanisë në BE.

Kjo ka histori. Që në 30 janar 2003, ende pa hyrë në BE, Polonia u bë pjesë e "Deklaratës së tetë vendeve". Ato nuk mbështesnin refuzimin nga Franca dhe Gjermania të ndërhyrjes amerikane në Irak dhe mbështesnin sulmin amerikan atje.

Marrëdhënia e posaçme me SHBA e ka forcuar tani pozicionin gjeostrategjik të Polonisë. Por SHBA nuk janë të interesuara për një konflikt midis Polonisë dhe Gjermanisë, edhe nëse në Varshavë tregohen euforikë për marrëdhënien me Uashingtonin.

Aktualisht, Polonia kundërshton si "utopike dhe prandaj të rrezikshme (Morawiecki)" çdo tendencë për thellim e federalizim të BE, të mbështetur nga Gjermania dhe Franca. Ajo përpiqet t'i kundërvërë kësaj një aleancë shtetesh nacionale p.sh. me Rumaninë, Shtetet Baltike e Finlandën.

Sa sukses ka qeveria polake me agjendën antigjermane

Por sukseset polake për të krijuar një koalicion shtetesh kritike ndaj Gjermanisë (e Francës) lënë për të dëshiruar. Kjo pasi shtetet e tjera nuk janë të interesuara për cënimin e marrëdhënieve me Gjermaninë.

The non-constructive methods followed by conservative parties in Poland towards Germany, especially in the last 20 years, do not arouse sympathy for Polish demands. Even according to Polish opposition politicians, this approach puts at risk the leading role that Poland wants to take in the region after the Ukrainian war.

The former Polish foreign minister, Radoslav Sikorski, recently told the Western media that the role of Poland can also be taken by Romania. It is indeed half the size of Poland, but it is not involved in pointless wars with Europe, like the Polish government./DW