Germany,Poland to Sign New Defense Deal06/17 06:21

   

   WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Germany and Poland were set to sign a new defense 
agreement on Wednesday, putting aside their complicated past to strengthen 
European military cooperation at a time of heightened tension with Russia and 
growing uncertainty over U.S. engagement in Europe.

   Relations between the two neighbors in recent years have become more 
pragmatic in the wake of Russia's fullscale war on Ukraine in 2022 and the 
coming to power of a liberal government in Poland in 2023.

   As the U.S. weighs a partial drawdown of its military presence in Europe, 
Poland is keen to ensure that major European allies take a greater role in 
defending the continent's eastern flank.

   Germany is seeking partners as it moves to revitalize its military, the 
Bundeswehr, after decades of neglect with ambitions to build the strongest 
conventional army on NATO's European side -- an effort that will make it a 
central pillar of European defense in the years ahead.

   Poland's importance as a logistics hub for Ukraine, alongside its growing 
economy and heavy defense investment, has made it a compelling partner for 
Germany and other core European countries.

   "We Germans need a strong Poland as an equal partner," German Chancellor 
Friedrich Merz said in Berlin after meeting with liberal Polish Prime Minister 
Donald Tusk in December. "This is in our fundamental interest."

   Germany has a key role in securing Europe's eastern borders

   The defense agreement is to include plans for protecting the Baltic Sea 
region and details about cooperation on military mobility and infrastructure, 
cyber defense and new technologies.

   The two countries are irreversibly tied by NATO's defense plans, which give 
Germany a key role in the defense of the Baltic region, together with Poland 
and other countries in the central and eastern European region, said Justyna 
Gotkowska, deputy director of the Warsaw-based think tank Center for Eastern 
Studies.

   "Germany is largely responsible for the defense of the Baltic states and 
without cooperation with Poland, that will not happen," Gotkowska said.

   The Baltic countries are often referred to as the most likely target for 
Russia if it were to attack NATO territory in the future.

   Historical wounds are still causing problems

   The agreement is expected to reaffirm the mutual defense obligations set out 
in NATO and European Union treaties, to which both countries are parties.

   However, unlike bilateral treaties each has signed with France and the 
United Kingdom in recent years, the Polish-German agreement is 
inter-ministerial, focused on the practical aspects of military cooperation and 
does not include political mutual defense declarations that the bilateral 
treaties do.

   When asked in June by Polish Radio Trojka why Poland is not signing a 
similar treaty with Germany, Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski said 
that President Karol Nawrocki, who came to power with the support of the 
national-conservative Law and Justice party, would never agree to that.

   "Hell would break loose here" if a German-Polish treaty was signed, Sikorski 
said.

   When Law and Justice was in power, the government demanded $1.3 trillion in 
reparations from Germany because of its World War II occupation of Poland -- a 
demand Berlin has rejected.

   The topic is likely to resurface ahead of next year's general election, and 
Tusk will seek to avoid appearing soft or serving Berlin's interests. Tusk 
himself has demanded that Germany move faster to compensate surviving victims 
of the occupation.

   On Tuesday, Polish far-right leader Robert Bkiewicz and several companions 
from a movement opposing immigration were briefly detained in Berlin after 
attempting to stage a demonstration in front of a monument to Polish victims of 
World War II, holding a large cross.

   Poland is not core Europe just yet

   Despite Poland's rising importance in Europe's security architecture, 
Germany has preferred to make major decisions on Ukraine or Iran together with 
key Western European allies France and the U.K. only, leaving Warsaw aside.

   On June 7, the three Western European countries received Ukrainian President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, discussing the role they might play in potential 
future peace negotiations with Russia.

   Tusk said at a news conference in Warsaw after the London meeting that he 
had complained to Merz that Poland should be part of the discussion about the 
future of Ukraine and the region. "Any arrangements made without our 
participation will not be respected or binding for us," Tusk said.

   Rolf Nikel, a former German ambassador to Poland and vice president of the 
German Council on Foreign Relations, said Poland's role and significance within 
Europe and NATO have grown.

   "So Poland must be taken more seriously today and, above all, must be 
respected more than we have seen in the past," Nikel said.

   Gotkowska, from the Center for Eastern Studies, said that Germany needs to 
recognize that its economy has stagnated while Poland's economy and military 
strength have risen.

   "The balance of power has changed in Europe in recent years," Gotkowska said.