Stronger Warsaw-Berlin ties with missile defense could help protect Europe: Polish foreign minister

WARSAW

Poland's foreign minister said missile defense based on Polish-German cooperation could help protect Europe from Russian missiles launched from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.

"We are receiving signals that they (Germans) want to maintain very close relations with Poland. Such a way of presenting the matter may herald new joint projects," Radoslaw Sikorski told Polish weekly Polityka in an interview published Wednesday.

He said Polish radar systems could be integrated with German missiles and funding. Kaliningrad is the only part of Russian bordering Poland, and is far closer to Western Europe than the rest of Russia.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Wednesday to discuss European policy, including security and defense. The two have not seen eye-to-eye on various issues, including how to support Ukraine and World War II reparations.

Since the US began pivoting away from its traditional role as Europe’s security guarantor under President Donald Trump, European leaders have increasingly discussed building a common security framework, military-industrial base, and potentially a shared European army.

Long-running tensions between Poland and Germany

One of the long-standing divides within the EU has been between Poland and Germany.

Domestic narratives in Poland about Germany – from historical stereotypes to more positive modern views – played a key role in the success of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party from 2015 onwards.

The new Polish government in early 2024 said it would welcome German soldiers stationed in Poland.

"We are done with demonizing democratic Germany. This is a controversial topic for nationalists, but not for us. Germany is our ally; we are happy with allied cooperation to secure NATO territory. So German soldiers would be welcome here," Sikorski told Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

But not everyone agrees. Many on Poland’s nationalist right have framed the post-1989 relationship with Europe – especially with Germany – as a neocolonial one, with a powerful center exploiting its eastern peripheries

Poland is set to hold presidential elections on May 18.