WARSAW, Poland (AP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting the Polish capital on Saturday to hold talks with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a time when Poland is struggling to relocate its eastern border with Belarus.
The Polish government says this is Merkel’s last visit to Warsaw as chancellor of Germany, and that the talks will include talks on protecting EU borders and the coronavirus epidemic.
“The conference in Warsaw will be an opportunity to give a brief overview of the relationship and to see the crisis in relations,” the Polish government said.
The meeting between Merkel and President Andrzej Duda, first announced by the German government, is not taking place at all.
Merkel’s spokeswoman said on Friday that Polish officials had told them they had “problems with preparation”. Duda’s office said Duda would instead be in Katowice, southern Poland, for a celebration commemorating Solidarity, an anti-communist treaty.
The German news agency dpa said that Duda’s office had announced that there would be no meeting soon after Russia announced that Nord Stream 2, a pipeline transporting natural oil from Russia to Germany, had been completed.
Poland, along with Ukraine and other countries in the region, have been opposed to Nord Stream 2, seeing it as a political activity that would allow Russia to use force to dominate Europe.
Germany has continued its work, however, due to the huge demand that German industries have for energy supply.
One region where Poland and Germany found a common ground for their views on the pressure to emigrate is believed to be Belarus’s commitment to the European Union.
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have seen cross-border crossings of Iraqis, Afghans, Syria and Africa from Belarus in recent months. Three EU countries call it a “hybrid war” by Belarus against the EU – and German officials have also taken the idea.
Duda and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke by telephone for 50 minutes on Friday, according to Jakub Kumoch, head of Duda’s international organization, reports Poland’s PAP.
“In this regard, Poland and Germany have a common side and are openly opposed to these.
Merkel has been chancellor since 2005. She plans to step down after the election later this month.