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Merkel visits Morawiecki in Poland: "Politics is more than just going to court"
Photo: PIOTR NOWAK / EPA
Chancellor Angela Merkel's farewell visit to Warsaw began with a bow to the dead: During a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Poland's central memorial for the victims of World War II, Merkel laid a wreath today.
The German invasion of Poland in 1939 marked the beginning of World War II with at least 55 million dead - other estimates put up to 80 million.
According to estimates, up to six million people died in Poland alone.
In view of this historical guilt and Merkel's departure from politics, it is perhaps not surprising that the Chancellor was more conciliatory in the subsequent conversation with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
During the subsequent visit to the Lazienski Park Palace in Warsaw, Merkel pleaded for the dispute between the EU Commission and Poland over the judicial system to be resolved through talks.
"Politics is more than just going to court," said Merkel after the meeting.
Such talks may already be taking place, otherwise Germany will campaign for them.
Attack on the rule of law
The EU Commission applied for financial sanctions against Poland at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday.
The Commission is also questioning the release of billions in aid from the Corona aid fund to Poland.
The background to this is the continued activity of the Polish Disciplinary Body to punish judges.
The ECJ had ordered the cessation of the activity of this chamber in an interim order.
Brussels and Warsaw have long been arguing over reforms to the Polish judicial system.
Critics accuse the national conservative PiS government of undermining the independence of the judiciary.
The Polish Constitutional Court is currently examining whether Polish law takes precedence over EU law.
With her offer to talk, Merkel clearly opposed the confrontational position of Brussels.
Merkel's conciliatory tones can by no means be taken for granted, because political relations between Warsaw and Berlin are also currently strained.
The Federal Government shares the concerns of the EU Commission with regard to the changes in the Polish judiciary.
Poland also rejects the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 - the German government had always supported the Russian gas company's project.
"Hybrid attacks against the EU"
Merkel and Morawiecki, on the other hand, were in agreement on the criticism of neighboring Belarus.
"I consider it completely unacceptable to carry out such hybrid attacks on the back of individuals with their fate," said Merkel on Saturday in Warsaw.
"Defenseless people from other regions" would be used for "hybrid attacks" against the EU.
In the past few months, thousands of migrants from the Middle East had entered the EU via Belarus.
The EU suspects the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of smuggling migrants into the EU in order to retaliate for sanctions decreed by the West against Belarus.
Because of the situation, Poland imposed an unprecedented state of emergency in the border area and built a barbed wire fence.
Some migrants were stuck for weeks surrounded by Polish and Belarusian border guards under unbearable conditions at the border.
Merkel has now appealed to the authoritarian leadership in Belarus to allow international organizations to take care of the migrants.
She also told Russian President Vladimir Putin that these "hybrid attacks" were unacceptable.
Regardless of humanitarian aid, however, the EU must also protect its external borders, "as we did with Greece," said Merkel.
sug / jme / dpa / AFP
