German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius plans to visit Warsaw today to sign a defense agreement with Poland, DPA reported, BTA reported.
According to the German government, the agreement emphasizes the integration of the two countries into NATO and the EU and confirms their commitment to mutual assistance.
Poland and Germany also intend to cooperate more closely in the development of military capabilities and within the defense industry. Joint exercises are also planned.
The signing in Warsaw coincides with the 35th anniversary of the conclusion of the German-Polish Good Neighborhood Treaty of 1991.
Discussions are scheduled in Berlin at the same time on the state of political ties and their further development. Foreign Minister Johan Waddefull and his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski are participating in a German-Polish forum in Berlin.
As the United States considers partially reducing its military presence in Europe, Poland is eager to ensure that key European allies take a greater role in defending the continent's eastern flank, the Associated Press reports. Germany is seeking partners as it seeks to revive the Bundeswehr after decades of neglect, with ambitions to build the strongest conventional army on the European side of NATO -- an effort that would make it a central pillar of European defense in the years to come.
The defense agreement will include plans to protect the Baltic Sea region and details on cooperation in military mobility and infrastructure, cyber defense and new technologies.
Unlike the bilateral treaties that Germany and Poland have signed with France and the United Kingdom in recent years, the Polish-German agreement is interdepartmental, focused on the practical aspects of military cooperation and does not include political declarations of mutual defense, as bilateral treaties include. Asked in June by Polish radio "Troika" Asked why Poland has not signed such a treaty with Germany, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that President Karol Nawrocki, who came to power with the support of the national-conservative Law and Justice party, would never agree to it. "There would be hell here" if a German-Polish treaty were signed, Sikorski said.
When Law and Justice was in power, the government demanded $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the occupation of Poland during World War II - a demand that Berlin rejected, the AP recalls.