The focus of the talks is likely to be the war in Ukraine and continued support for Kiev in the fight against the Russian army. Poland is a key ally of neighboring Ukraine and a hub for Western military aid to Kiev.
During his visit to the Polin Museum, Pistorius was to be accompanied by Holocaust survivor Marian Turski. The President of the International Auschwitz Committee is one of the founding fathers of the museum and heads its advisory board.
In the square in front of the museum, a monument commemorates the 1943 uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, which was suppressed by the German occupiers. The ghetto memorial has also been a defining place for German-Polish reconciliation since the kneeling of the then Chancellor Willy Brandt in December 1970.
In the Ukraine war, which has lasted more than two years, Kiev is increasingly on the defensive. The Ukrainian armed forces are suffering from a shortage of ammunition and the government is pushing for more weapons supplies from the West, while new US military aid worth $60 billion is being blocked by the opposition Republicans in the US Congress.
In addition, tensions have recently emerged between Ukraine’s European allies, for example in the debate initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible sending of Western ground troops to Ukraine or the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev – both of which are rejected by the federal government.
German-Polish relations have been tense in recent years. At the beginning of the Ukraine war, there were disagreements between Berlin and Warsaw over support for Kiev.
After the pro-European coalition led by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power, which replaced the right-wing nationalist PiS party in December after eight years, there are signs of rapprochement again.
