Kaczynski calls Tusk a "servant" of the Germans
Between Berlin and Warsaw, tensions persist. German Chancellor Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Tusk are attempting a fresh start. In the first government consultation in years, Scholz pledged help for survivors of the NS terror in Poland. PiS leader Kaczynski therefore spits out anti-German tones in response.
Polish opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused Government Chief Tusk today in Warsaw of being too lenient on reparations demands during his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Tusk had "subordinated himself to the Germans in every way" during the German-Polish government consultations, said the head of the national-conservative PiS. "When a politician puts himself in a position of subservience towards another country, he will be treated as a servant," so Kaczynski.
At the German-Polish government consultations, Scholz had announced that the still living victims of the German occupation of Poland during World War II would soon receive help from the German government. Tusk spoke of a step in the right direction and emphasized that, in a formal and legal sense, the question of reparations had been settled.
Scholz did not specify when or how much compensation the approximately 40,000 surviving victims of the German occupation of Poland would receive. Taking responsibility for the past means taking responsibility for the shared future, Scholz added. "Poland's security is also Germany's security," so Scholz. Cooperation in the areas of security and defense should be intensified. We stand together firmly by the side of Ukrainian women and men.
The now-defeated national-conservative PiS government, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, had ruined the relationship with Berlin through anti-German tones and reparations demands of 1.3 billion Euros. Since December, Poland has been governed by a center-left coalition under Tusk. Since then, the tone has become friendlier. The government consultations were intended to bring a new start to the difficult relationship.
Scholz's commitment to assisting survivors of the NS terror during the Second World War in Poland was met with criticism from PiS party leader Kaczynski, who accused Tusk of being too lenient on reparations demands. During the consultations, Tusk acknowledged that the issue of reparations had been settled legally, but Scholz did not specify the amount or timing of compensation for the approximately 40,000 surviving victims. Despite the past tensions, Scholz emphasized the importance of Poland's security being intertwined with Germany's, suggesting increased cooperation in security and defense, including standing together with Ukrainian people.
