Marek A. Cichocki: The Chancellor and Prime Minister's Eloquent Silence

In fact, we should have long since become accustomed to such open disregard by key German politicians and state institutions for important anniversaries and events related to Polish-German history. Social media today provides politicians with an easy way to communicate their positions and make certain gestures. Therefore, the German Chancellor's silence on his own official messaging platforms, whether under Olaf Scholz or now, on matters such as the anniversary of the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, or the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, is a significant, visible sign. It is a sign of disrespect and ostentatious indifference towards his eastern neighbor.

Disgusted by Germany's historical policy towards Poland

Some people here are so thoroughly disgusted by Germany's historical policy towards Poland that they would prefer no more acts of hypocrisy, such as Berlin's subsequent official declarations on anniversaries such as 1939 or 1944. This is understandable. In Polish-German relations, the gap between the German belief in its exceptional processing of guilt and responsibility for the destruction and crimes of World War II and the actual state of affairs is so vast that it is sometimes difficult to keep emotions in check. However, for me, Friedrich Merz's silence on August 1st is unrelated to a lack of historical reckoning, as that is a completely separate issue, but primarily to the lack of form in Germany's relations with its EU neighbor and NATO ally.

On August 1st, not only Chancellor Fryderyk Merz remained silent. Prime Minister Donald Tusk also

This lack of form in German policy towards Poland and Poles is significant and has a tangible impact on practical political and security matters, and is directly expressed in a lack of respect. We can, of course, debate whether this is simply how Germany feels towards us, or whether we ourselves are incapable of developing respect for us in Polish-German relations. However, in this light, the story of Merz placing the Polish Prime Minister in a separate train during his May trip to Kyiv takes on deeper significance. This story can be summed up by the fact that the Polish Prime Minister also chose a characteristic silence on August 1st.