Free Republic

Reconciliation with Poland Germany is surrounded by friends and partners in today's European Union – an organization that has undergone a profound transformation over the past two decades, as it has gained competences and been enlarged to include 25 member states. One successful example of European partnership is the so-called "Weimar Triangle". This initiative was launched through the joint declaration of 29 August 1991 by the Foreign Ministers of France, Poland and Germany in the Thuringian town that Goethe made his home. The Foreign Ministers concerned – Roland Dumas, Krzysztof Skubiszewski and Hans-Dietrich Genscher – agreed on comprehensive cooperation between...

The Polish, German and French leaders are meeting for a regular three-way summit in the south-western Polish city of Wroclaw that may be marked by tension over the Iraq crisis. Relations between Poland and its two partners soured after Poland supported the US-led attack on Iraq both militarily and diplomatically. There has also been further friction over Polish plans to manage a sector in post-war Iraq. These three-way meetings of the so-called Weimar Triangle have been largely formal affairs ever since they started in 1991. Reception concerns But this time there is an air of nervousness. Poland has riled its...