VISIT OF POLISH PRESIDENT KACZYNSKI TO GERMANY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000721

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2016
TAGS: PREL GM PL
SUBJECT: VISIT OF POLISH PRESIDENT KACZYNSKI TO GERMANY

Classified By: POL M/C JOHN BAUMAN for reasons 1.4(B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: During his visit to Berlin on March 8-9,
Polish President Kaczynski criticized German positions on the
EU, the German-Russian gas pipeline and the commemoration of
World War II refugees. However, his public remarks were
relatively restrained, and German officials described the
atmosphere of meetings he held with President Koehler,
Chancellor Merkel, and Foreign Minister Steinmeier as good.
While little progress was made in narrowing policy
differences, the improved personal chemistry between
Kaczynski and Chancellor Merkel was viewed by the Germans as
progress. The Polish president's tone was a bit more
combative in newspaper interviews, and many German
commentators highlighted differences between German and
Polish political culture. (End Summary)

Speech on the EU


2. (C) In a speech delivered at Berlin's Humboldt
University, Kaczynski outlined his views on the EU in some
detail. He said the EU is composed of 25, soon to be 27,
very different countries, and a more fully integrated EU
federal state is at least 20 years in the future. Europe
simply is not ready for the federal state proposed in the EU
constitution, he argued. For the time being the EU should
focus on expansion (Kaczynski advocated membership for
Ukraine, Turkey and Georgia) and modest concrete goals such
as creating a European intervention force or ensuring energy
security. Kaczynski stressed that Poland only regained its
independence in 1989, which makes him reluctant to surrender
more of Poland's sovereignty to the EU at this time.

Meetings with Government Officials


3. (C) According to Christine Weil, deputy director of the
office at the Foreign Ministry responsible for Poland,
Kaczynski's discussions with German officials went better
than expected. She said Kaczynski was particularly
forthcoming in his meeting with President Koehler. During
his meeting with Foreign Minister Steinmeier Kaczynski
repeated his concerns about the Baltic Sea pipeline agreement
signed last year between Russia and Germany, but his tone was
more restrained than in the past. Weil said that Kaczynski
mentioned the activities of the joint German-Poland working
groups set up to address Polish concerns about the pipeline,
and noted the theoretical possibility that Poland could draw
gas from a branch of the pipeline.


4. (C) Michaela Kuchler, the desk officer at the Chancellery
responsible for Polish affairs, said the atmosphere of
Kaczynski's meeting with Chancellor Merkel was considerably
better than when the two leaders met in Warsaw shortly after
Merkel was elected. They continued to disagree on
substance--Kaczynski made the argument that the EU
constitution would not succeed, and repeated his concerns
about the gas pipeline--but the two leaders spoke easily with
each other. Kaczynski still expressed strong opposition to
creating a German center on World War II refugees as the CDU
would like to do, but he expressed support for a multilateral
European effort ("Netzwerk") to commemorate refugees.
Netzwerk was supported by the previous Polish government, but
Chancellery officials said they had not heard President
Kaczynski support it before he visited Berlin.

Press Reaction


5. (C) Kaczynski expressed his views somewhat more
combatively in newspaper interviews that appeared during the
visit, and much of the German press was unimpressed with
Kaczynski's performance. Coverage focused on Kaczynski's
attitude toward the EU, which the Sueddeutsch Zeitung summed
up as give nothing, receive much and be obstructionist. A
number of commentators focused on a demonstration of gay
rights activists that disrupted his speech at Humboldt
University, because of Kaczynski's recent ban on a gay pride
event in Warsaw, to underline what they argued were
significant differences in German and Polish political
culture.

TIMKEN JR