Polish premier says he's cleared the air with German chancellor

Polish Prime Minster Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Sunday he has cleared the air with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and they would meet again in Berlin on Oct. 30.

He told reporters in Helsinki that a short meeting between the two was "very nice" and had allowed him to explain misunderstandings, which he claimed had been created by false media reports.

"We've managed to clarify some issues that were just a matter of misunderstanding. I noticed that the chancellor had learned something from the press that was complete nonsense."

He was referring to media reports that junior coalition partner — the League of Polish Families — was trying to erode rights that guarantee Poland's German minority a seat in parliament. Kaczynski heads the ruling Law and Justice party.

"The press wrote that I announced I would abolish some political rights, especially political rights for the national minorities and it is untrue... In spite of the fact that Poles do not enjoy the same rights in other countries, we will uphold those rights for national minorities in Poland."

Relations between the two nations have soured since Polish President Lech Kaczynski, a nationalist conservative, came to power and Germany began a gas pipeline project with Russia — bypassing Poland — both last year.

Adding to these recent tensions, German organizations representing Germans who were expelled from their Eastern European homelands after World War II have been trying to focus attention on their difficulties.

Kaczynski said he and Merkel mainly discussed future meetings and his October trip to Berlin would largely cover "government consultations with elements of an official visit."

Merkel told him she was one-quarter Polish, he said, but her father had changed his Polish surname 'Kaczmarczyk' to the more German-sounding 'Kasner' at the end of the 1930s.

The recent outcome in the German-Polish relationship was rather disappointing.

Kaczynski spoke at the margins of an EU-Asia summit, where he also met Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi who both talked to him about the benefits of better European integration — something Poland has recently been less enthusiastic about.

I do not understand, why Poland joined into the European Union, if the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski has to be convinced about the benefits of the EU. I simply quote from the CIA factbook: . "Poland joined the EU in May 2004, and surging exports to the EU contributed to Poland's strong growth in 2004, though its competitiveness could be threatened by the zloty's appreciation. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Poland stands to benefit from nearly $23.2 billion in EU funds, available through 2006. Farmers have already begun to reap the rewards of membership via booming exports, higher food prices, and EU agricultural subsidies." Besides of economic backing Poland recieved much sympathy for fighting down communism, standing in for christian values and last but not least for the outstandig Polish Pope. Countries from Western Europe offered friendship, open boarders, economic immigration and cooperation. In the meantime it appears that Poland can do without its European partners.

Of course it is the right of every administration to follow the politics their voters want them to represent. We understand it (believe it or not) since Western Europe also consists of democracys. Therefore it would be logically consequent to leave the EU, if Poland does not want to join into the path of further European integration. The EU is no dungeon. Countries who feel uncomfortable with it, can leave.

It is very simple: Socialists with a dumb national background like Roman Giertych and Andrzej Lepper do not fit into the Western European Club. It was the same thing with Haider from Austria. We will and we can not tolerate countries that elect such people into our community. There are two possibilities for us:

1. If we want to keep the overblown EU in its present organisation form someday the same thing with Haider and Austria will happen.

2. If the western European countries come to the conclusion that it is hopeless to achieve the same ideological and economic levels with eastern Europe, they will concentrate on themselves.

All this whining about idiotic, ridicolous BS concerning potatoes, Deutsche Treuhand, Steinbach or other populous and meaningless stuff will not help Poland to solve its contemporary problems. Politics are made of compromises. I.e. if you Poles are not happy about a center of expulsions in Berlin i.e. your President has to make a constructive proposal to build it in another place with Polish participation since he has simply no possibility to prohibit it. Everybody sane in Poland knows that we Germans do not deny our basic responsibility for WWII and that we will not repeat the faults of the past in the further future. Therefore: If you can not accept that we are human beings that have to mourn for our victims too, you simply have to leave the alliances you started with us. Doing it on your own would we more honest in this case than waiting for the fast erosion of our relationship in Germany and elsewhere in western Europe.

I say that as a friend of Poland since I see a real danger. The once good and bullish mood turns into something bad. We have the same populists (i.e. Steinbach or Stoiber) like you have and they will use this ongoing cretinism for their political aims.

"I do not understand, why Poland joined into the European Union...(...)"

I don't understand that either ;) But seriously Andreas, if you think that Poland's going to become isolated within the EU you are wrong. Kaczynski will do everything to convince elites of other European countries that he takes a good care about Giertych and Lepper in Polish government. And he's doing that just fine in Poland, I am telling you. And he will finally succeed in Brussels, too (in spite of bad publicity from German press). I am no fan of Kaczynski, let alone Giertych and Lepper but Poland's government is doing the right thing - taking care about Poland first. You probably expected exactly the same from your government on the Baltic pipe issue, if I remember correctly. So let's be objective, if you may. Germany also didn't open its work market to Polish workers protecting its own interest first. Again, something most natural.

I don't care about centre of expulsions, to be honest. If German society wants to whine and moan how terribly they were treated by these awful Poles during the WW2 without seeing the reason-effect relationship, it's their problem. Like every case of manic/paranoid denial.

To me - EU should go back to its economic roots. Just a common market without barriers and tarrifs, possibly with the same currency in a longer run. Certain set of values like Christianity and democracy is also important but it cannot be imposed and regulated. Local laws should be respected - just like in the USA the law of the state.

All in all I'd be really glad to see more good roads and international investments (also German) in Poland. On the other hand I'd be glad to see more Ukrainians and Belarussians come to Poland to work and stay here. This is my European Union.

I hesitated to the last moment and finally voted for the EU on assumption that in case of German neonazi tendencies we can observe now (steinbach), the rest of the EU will give Germany ice shower.

That is really, really funny. YOU, vox_pl, the last knight of Poland, the white Polish eagle in the bright sky and the very last of the Polish Husaria voted for the satanic EU??! This world is indeed a crazy place. Let me quote you:

Killing innocent unborn babies, old sick people and protecting the life of pedophile rapists. Sexual perversion is a virtue whereas Christian values are considered hostile to the so called EU values. Sodom! Gomorrah!

You should stop complaining immediately about those bad bad Germans who voted for Adolf Hitler in 1933, since they knew for sure much less negative things about what they voted for than you imagined to do in the recent referendum. If you really believe into your own statements you obviously want to turn Poland into a new Sodom. Furthermore you voted for fraternalism with the (in your imagination) everlasting enemy of Poland, the evil Federal Republic of Germany. Isn't that high treason over there??!

P.S. Steinbach and Germany is still desperately waiting for its "ice shower". Hihihi! It is rather the case that the EU was thinking about a simular "ice shower" for Poland like Austria recieved for Haider, after your President decided to absorb such socialist and dumb national scum like Roman Giertych and Andrzej Lepper in his gouvernment. We other Europeans abstained from such drastic means, since Poland is a young democracy that has no stable voting attitude (no offense here - same thing in other former socialist provinces like eastern Germany or the Czech republic). Besides of that we would have lost Poland as a partner. That is not in our (and not in your own) interest.

Sorry to say but you are actually wrong. Ruhrland Polonia a homogenous group roughly about 300.000 people with German passports and German citizenship who very often consider themselves ethnic Poles. What if not Polish minority are they? Apart from them there are people like my sister and her children (thousands of them, 500.000 to 1.000.000 depending on source) who never gave up their Polish citizenship and hold Polish passports only or have both German and Polish citizenship at the same time. Of course they are not counted in official minority statistics.

You misunderstood: That is exactly what I meant. Many of these Poles still consider Krakow or Warsaw their "home" whereas the Danes in Schleswig Holstein have lived in the same Danish village that just happened to be on the wrong side of the border for generations. But if that's not so, I suggest that they found a "Ruhrland Polonia" party, just like there is a Danish minority party in Schleswig-Holstein (whose special status has already caused considerable problems, BTW.). But in general it's the old question as to what distinguishes an ethnic minority from migrant group, and why there should be a distinction at all.

You see, the problem is not that Polish minority is treated badly in Germany but that German minority enjoys some strange, undeserved privilige in Poland. Fortunately Polish decision on special priviliges for German minority (why German and not Ukrainian for example?) was our internal and can be stopped at any time.

Oh, I agree, it's a priviledge, and a very nice one indeed, thank you very much. I just wanted to point out that while Kaczynski is right with his statement, the same priviledge exists in Germany as well. Maybe Poles in Northrhine Westfalia will organize and become a subject group in the future. I wouldn't have any problems with that.

But if that priviledge were abolished in Poland or here I wouldn't see it as anti-democratic, exactly because it's a priviledge and not a right. But one shouldn't make such a decision part of an election platform. Such changes should be discussed soberly and without undue haste.

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