Poland and Germany’s annual political talks — held in Berlin on Monday — came at a time of heightened regional tension and concern over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin for the 17th German-Polish Government Consultations, with security high on the agenda.
There has been a spate of Russian violations of NATO airspace in recent months, including the Kremlin’s fighter jets triggering air-raid alarms in Poland.
Warsaw needs Berlin as a security partner — yet deep mistrust continues to cloud the relationship, particularly on the Polish side.
Speaking on Monday, Merz emphasised the importance of solidarity:
_”_Especially in times when Europe’s unity is under such pressure, we must not allow ourselves to be divided. We must and we will stand together,” he said.
Political scientist Kai-Olaf Lang described the German-Polish relationship as “paradoxical.”
The meeting of the two leaders is unlikely to have changed that, as the mistrust runs deep, said the researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
“There are domestic political brakes, so from a German perspective, it feels as if Poland is pursuing German policy with the handbrake on,” Lang told Euronews.
According to Lang, Poland sees itself as a regional leader in central and eastern Europe. “Since February 2022, Warsaw has considered Poland’s influence to have increased even further,” he said.
At the Berlin meeting, Tusk referred to the longstanding differences between the nations.
“It has taken me several years to convince our German partners to see security in this part of Europe as a shared responsibility,” the Polish prime minister said.
Poland wants bigger say on security
Poland wants to be more involved in security matters, but feels routinely sidelined, according to Lang.
The impression has grown that Germany speaks rhetorically about including and empowering Poland, but when it really matters, Poland is not taken into account,” he said.
This frustration has grown over recent key discussions on European defence and in transatlantic talks about the future of the continent’s security architecture. In Warsaw, many believe Germany should have engaged more closely with Poland.
Recently, Washington’s peace plan for Ukraine was discussed without Warsaw’s direct involvement — including a provision on deploying European fighter jets on Polish territory.
Tusk was clear: decisions about Europe’s security must not be made over Poland’s head.
Can this “paradoxical” relationship still develop into a strong German-Polish security partnership?
Frosty relations
According to the latest German-Polish Barometer, only one-third of Poles say they like their neighbours.
One major point of tension between the two countries has been renewed Polish demands for reparations for Nazi crimes committed during World War II. In 2022, Poland officially demanded €1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for WW II damages.
“From the German perspective, the issue of reparations is legally closed,” Lang said.
During Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s state to Germany visit in October, both Merz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rejected the demand for reparations.
Merz emphasised that dealing with the past remains important.
s a symbolic gesture, Germany recently returned cultural assets to Poland — including 73 medieval parchment documents from the Teutonic Order and the relic believed to be the head of Saint James the Greater.
However, the current Polish government is under domestic pressure, and must appear though towards Berlin, according to Lang.
For the national-conservative opposition and for President Nawrocki, Germany is cast as a rival. They accuse Tusk’s government of being overly accommodating.
“We know where the differences of opinion lie,” said Tusk.
Yet the Polish prime minister also sees progress in German-Polish cooperation on key issues such as infrastructure investment and joint efforts to support Ukraine, where Germany and Poland “work hand-in-hand”.
Such cooperation, Tusk argued, is among the strongest guarantees of security for both nations.
He noted that Berlin and Warsaw are aligned on energy policy, particularly on reducing dependence on Russian supplies — a shift he said would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
Investments in infrastructure are also vital on the shared security agenda, Tusk said.
“It’s about road connections and bridges over the Oder River so that NATO can respond quickly in the event of Russian aggression,” Tusk said. To ensure swift action, more structural and communication links between Poland and Germany are needed, he added.
However, Tusk admits that challenges remain: “I expect there will be more.”