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German opposition leader to visit Warsaw

27.07.2022 08:00
Poland’s prime minister and conservative leader are set to meet with the head of Germany’s opposition CDU party in Warsaw on Wednesday, news agencies reported.
Friedrich Merz
Friedrich MerzPAP/DPA/Friso Gentsch

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński are due to hold talks with the CDU’s Friedrich Merz and a delegation of German lawmakers, reporters were told.

Kaczyński, who heads Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, is expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues with Merz, Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

“The issue of war reparations will definitely be raised,” a party official told reporters. "Our leader has repeatedly stated that a report on the matter will be published on September 1."

Other topics will include energy, especially natural gas supplies and "the situation around the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the situation in Ukraine, and Germany’s role in the allied effort," according to officials. 

The meeting will take place as an initiative by Merz, the PAP news agency reported.

Meetings with Polish PM, opposition leader

The CDU leader is also scheduled to meet with the Polish prime minister and the head of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, Donald Tusk, the website for Germany's Der Spiegel weekly said.

According to the website, Merz is seeking to maintain close contact with Poland’s senior politicians to smooth out bilateral ties. 

Germany has come in for some strong criticism in Poland recently, notably for failing in its pledge to provide modern tanks to Poland to replace equipment sent to war-torn Ukraine. 

“This has led to huge anger at the government in Berlin,” Der Spiegel said on its website.  

Merz on Monday piled criticism on the German head of state, saying that “the exchange of tanks has reached a dead end due to the hesitation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”

According to the Der Spiegel website, Merz’s next stop will be Lithuania, where he is expected to meet with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyte, among other top politicians. 

Wednesday is day 154 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP