Polish, German presidents mark historic treaty, differences notwithstanding

Polish President Andrzej Duda and his visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of a historic partnership treaty between their countries and praised mutual ties.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Andrzej Duda at the presidential palace in Warsaw.

Photo: PAP/Andrzej Lange

Despite some differences, both leaders emphasized the historically close relations between the two neighbours. One of the issues that the two presidents did mention, however, was the rights of the German minority in Poland and the Polish minority in Germany,

“It’s hard to be happy about the fact that the nearly 2 million-strong Polish community in Germany does not enjoy ethnic minority status and that the German authorities have yet to set up dedicated funding of Polish-language classes, especially at public schools,” Duda said.