A meeting with Polish journalists and politicians took place at the German embassy on Monday evening as a part of the German Unity Day celebration, and commentary from one Polish journalist painted a poor picture.
Aleksandra Rybińska covered the event, offering her opinions about the proceedings for Polish news outlet wPolsce.pl. She relayed how German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock failed to mention the Polish government in the context of helping Ukraine, saying only that Germany is grateful to Poles and civil society.
Even more surprising was a speech by a German senator from Hamburg who thanked the Russians for the reunification of Germany, “a very curious statement given the aggression against Ukraine with whom Putin claims he wants to reunify,” noted Rybińska.
According to Rybińska, Baerbock also said that Germany would back Ukraine “right until the end” and “would lead the initiative for rebuilding the country.” Rybińska believes that Germany wants to recover the initiative by making such promises of reconstruction.
Rybińska said she feels that Germany’s attempts to draw a veil of silence over the issue of reparations will not be effective now that Poland has raised the matter at an official level. While there are few German politicians who would be willing to help Poland on this issue, she feels that Germany will in the end have to tackle it, as it wants to present itself as a modern, progressive, and tolerant country that has faced up to its history.
“They don’t want history catching up with them again,” wrote Rybińska.
