Sikorski said Germany and France can no longer dominate decision-making in the European Union on their own.
“Germany and France are too weak today to govern Europe. Even together they do not have a blocking minority,” he was quoted as saying in the interview, published online on Wednesday.
He said Poland, the largest of the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 and one of the world’s 20 biggest economies, should help balance power in the bloc. Citing Pope John Paul II, Sikorski said: “Europe must breathe with two lungs, western and eastern.”
Sikorski said Poland wants to act as the voice of Central and Eastern Europe and thanked German Foreign Ministry official Johann Wadephul for inviting Warsaw into the E5 format, alongside Germany, France, Italy and Britain.
Polish-German ties and history
Sikorski rejected the suggestion by Der Spiegel that Polish-German relations had not improved since Poland’s change of government in 2023.
“It is much better. The government in Warsaw no longer sends you any bills,” he said, addressing German readers.
He said differences between neighbors were normal but cooperation was advancing, pointing to a planned monument to Polish victims in Berlin and a future German-Polish House.
“We want reconciliation, but it must be based on a complete picture of history,” Sikorski said, adding that German historical memory was “full of holes”.
On World War Two reparations, Sikorski said the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk accepted the outcomes of the Potsdam Conference, under which Poland was to receive compensation via reparations awarded to the Soviet Union.
“These were never paid to us. You could say they were stolen from us,” he said, adding that tens of thousands of victims of German occupation were still alive and deserved compensation as a final gesture beyond words of moral responsibility.
Security, Russia and Ukraine
Turning to security, Sikorski highlighted shared Polish-German concerns over the situation in the Baltic Sea and the threat from ballistic missiles in Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
He said Poland’s defense ministry had handed Berlin a list of joint military projects. Special German engagement, he added, would show Poland it could rely not only on NATO but also on “bilateral friendship”.
Sikorski dismissed the anti-German stance of what he called Poland’s “nationalist opposition”, saying Poles understood that Germany was a real partner. He credited the government with reversing war fatigue and hostility toward Ukrainian refugees, citing a successful fundraising drive for power generators for Ukraine.
He accused Russia of acts of sabotage and called it particularly vile to use Ukrainians for such operations, saying this served to fuel hostility toward them.
“Putin is still not ready for a just peace in Ukraine and wants its capitulation. We are convinced that Ukraine has the right to an independent existence,” Sikorski said, adding that Europeans should assure Kyiv of sustained support.
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Source: TVP Info