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THE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & LifestyleTHE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & Lifestyle

Politics

Politics

Poland’s election turned Germany into a punchbag, straining the Western alliance

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attend official welcoming... German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attend official welcoming ceremony in Warsaw, Poland, December 12, 2021. Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Wyborcza.pl
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attend official welcoming... German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attend official welcoming ceremony in Warsaw, Poland, December 12, 2021. Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Wyborcza.pl

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Poland’s election turned Germany into a punchbag, straining the Western alliance. Poland’s populist government, vying for an unheard-of third term in office, has turned its attention to Germany, a close friend and major commercial partner.

Before Poland’s upcoming election on October 15, leaders of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have said that Berlin attempts to dictate Polish government policy on everything from gas to immigration.

A combined Polish-German tank repair facility for the benefit of Kyiv was slated to be built. Still, the rivalry has weakened Europe’s largely unified front backing Ukraine against Russia’s incursion.

Additionally, the populist PiS leadership claims that Germany is attempting to re-elect Donald Tusk, the party’s major electoral rival and a liberal former prime minister. In particular, older conservatives who recall the carnage of World War Two have a strong fear of Germany that PiS has tapped upon.

Do you know where I may read the campaign platform of the (opposition)? In German newspapers,” Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, said during a rally.

His party portrays Tusk as a puppet of Germany and the “political husband” of former German chancellor Angela Merkel, even those who claimed his father was forcefully drafted into the Nazi Wehrmacht during World War Two before fleeing to the Allied side. Olaf Scholz, Merkel’s successor, was also made fun of in a campaign film.

After the Russian incursion last year, the Western coalition that came together to support Ukraine has had its unity put to the test by months of fighting between the two neighbors. They arrived when other problems, including Slovakia’s election of a pro-Russian leader, threatened to cause a commotion.

THE EFFECT ON UKRAINE

The dispute has already hampered efforts to assist Ukraine. The defense ministers of Germany and Poland announced the establishment of a joint center in Poland to repair German-made Leopard tanks damaged in the conflict in Ukraine in April with a grin and an embrace of unity.

But the agreement rapidly broke down. Another controversy was Warsaw’s initial resistance to a German proposal to install Patriot missile air defense batteries in Poland before it was finally accepted. “It’s very unhelpful that Poland, the people from the Law and Justice Party, continues to criticize Germany in such a harsh public way,” said U.S. General Ben Hodges, who oversaw U.S. Army operations in Europe from 2014 to 2017.

It’s detrimental because it strains the alliance between two NATO countries, which in turn strains NATO’s unity as a whole. The German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), none of which responded to a request for comment, and the Polish defense giant Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ) would have collaborated on the tank facility.

One German source claimed that Poland was asking for too much money for the repairs as one of the issues. Another source, a German ambassador, claimed that one of the reasons the discussions fell was German corporations’ reluctance to divulge technical knowledge. But it also demonstrated a general suspicion on the side of the Poles and a tendency to treat a partner in a manner that is not typical for a relationship in the EU or in an alliance, which is somewhat similar to how we felt about the Patriots.

Right now, PGZ is fixing certain Leopard tanks with German-origin spare parts. “To some extent, everything was determined by how quickly and decisively the German side moved. We were settling things. Sebastian Chwalek, CEO of PGZ, told Reuters, “Unfortunately, we have a little different idea of what it should look like.

The German envoy stated that other tanks would be repaired elsewhere, “which may be a little bit more expensive and may take a little bit longer, but it’s happening anyhow.” “The fact that we can’t agree on such things is a sign of the relationship as it is now.”

Polish government authorities did not immediately answer requests for a response from Reuters. However, the representative for the German Foreign Office declined to comment on “current domestic political debates in Poland” even though Berlin and Warsaw collaborate closely on issues of European security and defense.

SOURRING RESPONSES

Poles today perceive a deterioration of relations between Poland and Germany, which have been chilly since PiS first came to office in 2015. In contrast to 72% in 2020, just 47% of respondents to a German-Polish barometer survey this year believe that ties are excellent.

According to 56% of respondents to the opinion survey, many Poles believe Germany has not done enough to make up for the harm caused by the war. Germany rejected PiS’s demand for reparations of more than a trillion euros.

According to a PiS insider who asked to remain anonymous, ties were “competitive,” adding that while Berlin and Warsaw “could work together on many issues,” some, such as reparations, were contentious.

Two German legislators confidently told Reuters that Berlin might have been more forthright in responding to Polish concerns and taking amenable actions over the reparations problem.

“I believe that we should see past the ridiculous (Polish policy) that this (election) campaign has presented to us. Germany must now take a good, hard look in the mirror, according to Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff of the German Marshall Fund.

Scholz’s administration has mostly ignored the assaults from PiS. According to a government source, Berlin was extra careful not to offend Warsaw unintentionally. We’re walking on thin ice, the person claimed. Certain observers think that Polish criticism against Berlin may be toned down following the elections.

However, disagreements on both sides are certain to continue, especially those related to migration, which last month became a flashpoint after a cash-for-visa scandal in Poland.

Hodges stated, “What I hope will happen is that my president will similarly invite the two leaders to how he invited the leaders from Japan and South Korea to Camp David.” “You know, maybe at some point, President (Joe) Biden meets President (Andrzej) Duda and Chancellor Scholz and says: Fellows, we have got to fix it.”


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