Pragmatic Cooperation Instead of a Strategic Partnership SWP Comments the Current Status and Perspectives for German-Polish Relations Kai-Olaf Lang
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Introduction Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Pragmatic Cooperation instead of a Strategic Partnership SWP Comments The Current Status and Perspectives for German-Polish Relations Kai-Olaf Lang German-Polish relations are currently going through a difficult phase. The announce- ment by expelled Germans, to file claims for restitution in Polish and international courts, and the demand made by the Polish Parliament for war reparations, have ensured that there will be turbulent relations between the two countries. Although both the German and Polish governments distanced themselves from those demands, tension in bilateral relations in the near term should be expected, in part because in Poland there are growing doubts about whether a long-term orientation towards Germany makes sense. At the same time, since Poland’s accession to the European Union on May 1, 2004, there has not been a big project that binds both sides together in a constructive way. Therefore, the approach of a less ambitious “pragmatic coopera- tion” of both countries seems to be more realistic than one with a specific two-party relationship, a type of “strategic partnership.” The announcements by German citizens The Parliament requested the govern- of their intention to sue to recover their ment to become more involved with assets lost because of World War II, or at regard to the question of obtaining war least compensatory damages, in Polish reparations from Germany. and international courts has bothered the The Sejm emphasized that no financial general public in Poland for some time. obligations to German citizens what- The Polish Parliament took the opportu- soever, which arise as a result of World nity, on September 10, 2004, to pass a War II, would be accepted. resolution, which called upon the govern- The Polish government was requested to ment in Warsaw to demand compensation estimate the amount of the damages that from Germany for the damages caused Poland suffered as a result of the German during the occupation in World War II. occupation. Some large Polish cities have The resolution of the Sejm, the lower house already carried out the corresponding of the parliament, which passed with 328 mandate. For Warsaw alone the damages of 329 votes, contained several points: SWP Comments 32 November 2004 1 are estimated to be approximately 35 binding under international law, Poland million euros. has already renounced claims against The Federal government has been re- Germany for reparations, which was more quested to deny the claims of the Ger- or less confirmed later in the “Two-plus- man citizens on the grounds that they Four-Agreement.” are baseless and illegitimate and to turn The German government indicated, also down the authorization of the legal following the Sejm resolution, its refusal to process. intervene, which Chancellor Schröder had Although this Polish preemptive strike announced on August 1, 2004 in Warsaw. is not legally binding, the resolution inten- In his speech on the occasion of the 60th sified the rhetoric in German-Polish rela- anniversary of the Warsaw resistance, the tions and provoked a lack of understand- Chancellor assured the Polish side that his ing, consternation and indignation in government would not support any indi- Germany. vidual claims (also in international courts) that are related to questions about assets in connection with World War II. The Level-Headed Attitude of the Governments After the initial commotion, the waves in ... would be conducive to a the German-Polish relationship smoothed provisional calming of the situation themselves out again for the time being. At their meeting on September 27, Chancel- This can be attributed primarily to the con- lor Schröder and Prime Minister Belka tried duct of the governments. to get the initiative back into their hands. The Polish government expressed its The package presented by the government understanding for the Sejm resolution and heads on this occasion consists of measures wants to somewhat meet the Polish parlia- to reduce the historical-legal potential for mentarians’ demands, such as document- conflict as well as forward-looking initia- ing the magnitude of the damages incurred tives. The first type of measures includes during the occupation and finding ways the establishment of an expert commission, to grant legal assistance to Polish citizens which should contribute to ensuring that to defend themselves against possible claims for damages from German expellees claims from Germany. Naturally, the (and also including possible claims of government rejected the principal demand Polish citizens against Germany, as the case of the parliamentarians and refused to con- may be) have only a slight chance of suc- front Germany with claims for reparations. cess. Moreover, Prime Minister Belka agreed In fact, on July 13, 2004, it confirmed its that the competent authorities can no official position: hereafter the “reparations longer threaten recipients of burden question” is closed for the Polish govern- sharing payments with demands for repay- ment, bilateral relations should not be ment of money they have received, pro- burdened [by this issue]. (Statement of the vided that the affected people cannot prove Polish Foreign Ministry from September that they no longer control their former 10, 2004). assets. In this way, possibly thousands of The Belka government bases its position German citizens, especially Germans who on a political and legal argument. First, were resettled, will be prevented from German-Polish relations, because of its going to a Polish court in order to recover high-ranking importance in Europe, should their property or to receive the confirma- not be allowed to be damaged by frivolous tion that they no longer have it under their or “adventurous” initiatives (from both control. sides). Second, through its governmental In addition, the Schröder-Belka package declaration of August 23, 1953, which is contains some new recommendations, SWP Comments 32 November 2004 2 which are supposed to stimulate German- Germany’s participation in the bilateral Polish cooperation as well as defuse the expert commission. Suspicion prevails in present conflicts. For a project that is sup- Poland as Germany balks at administering posed to symbolize this cooperation, the its own settlement of the claims, due to Viadrina University in Frankfurt an der domestic politics or financial reasons, in Oder is due to be transformed into a tri- effect putting its own individual interests national French-German-Polish research ahead of German-Polish relations. This dis- university with the respectable sum of 60 satisfaction will lead to nervousness in bila- million euros (50 million of which come teral relations. However, the more deeply from Germany). The government-appointed embedded deficiencies and developments “coordinators” of the bilateral relationship outweigh those that have become apparent are supposed to improve mutual coopera- in the last few years. tion. In order to ease tensions, German and Polish experts are supposed to participate in a regular dialogue on EU finances. What the dispute revealed In order to further reduce tensions, both In an unmistakeable way, the latest dis- parliaments want to add to and intensify putes made clear numerous deficiencies exchanges. At the meeting of the two par- that have impaired the German-Polish liament presidents in the middle of October relationship for a fairly long time. in Słubice, it was announced that the Thus it became visible, that the three foreign and European committees of the fundamental principles and development German Parliament and the Sejm would trends, to which the bilateral cooperation hold joint sessions. The German-Polish oriented itself in the 90s—de-historification, group of parliamentarians is supposed to de-politicization and Europeanization—, get moving, and a joint group of younger have reached their limit. The attempt to representatives might be established. reduce the overwhelming influence of his- Without a doubt, these are steps in the tory for cooperation in the present and right direction. The fact that they neverthe- future by excluding contentious issues was less do not offer any protection against without a doubt, in hindsight, justified. further irritations in German-Polish rela- The resulting modus vivendi contributed tions can at least in part be attributed to significantly to the intensification of the the fact that the legal arrangements mutual cooperation in the previous regarding possible German claims is un- decades. Certainly people in Poland as well satisfactory from the Polish point of view. as in Germany allowed themselves to be Although the Polish government welcomed blinded by the success of the reconciliation the German government’s refusal to inter- efforts and the marginalization of prob- vene, Warsaw still hopes for a formal lems, which are rooted in the past. The renouncement of claims from Berlin com- latter point also applies to the efforts made bined with a German settlement of the to achieve a progressive depoliticization of claims of expellees. Warsaw’s goal is still bilateral relations. to redirect the disputes between German Since the end of the 90s at the latest, citizens and the Polish state and to refer “Germany” started to appear in Poland German citizens to the German govern- again as an issue in domestic politics. The ment. This solution, however, is not sup- end phase of the EU accession negotiations ported by the German government. The demonstrated that the gradual integration reasons for its position receive barely any of the bilateral relationship into a multilat- attention in Poland, as little attention as eral one, above all in the European context, the fact that Berlin has substantially accom- is not a panacea. Controversial issues such modated the Polish side, as demonstrated as the freedom of movement of workers by the Chancellor’s speech on August 1 and and land acquisition by foreigners reflected SWP Comments 32 November 2004 3 a strong German-Polish connotation.