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Envoy in ‘potato’ jibe at Poland’s top twin
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: July 11 2006 22:19 | Last updated: July 11 2006 22:19
Poland is “mishandling” relations with Germany, Warsaw’s ambassador to Berlin said on Tuesday , in a rare breach of diplomatic protocol that reflects underlying tensions within the administration of president Lech Kaczynski.
Speaking in a Financial Times interview in Berlin, ambassador Andrzej Byrt said Warsaw’s reaction to a controversial satirical article in a German newspaper in which the Polish president was compared to a potato had been “too emotional”.
He said a worsening of relations with Berlin in recent months was linked to the electoral successes last year of Mr Kaczynski and of his twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS). “The mood [between the countries] has deteriorated” since the Polish polls and the election of Angela Merkel as German chancellor, he said.
The Polish government has demanded an apology from the German government over the article in die Tageszeitung, a small circulation leftwing daily, which mocked both Mr Kaczynski and his brother, who is expected tomorrow to be confirmed as the country’s next prime minister. Analysts believe the president’s anger over the article prompted him to pull out of a meeting of the so-called “Weimar three” – Germany, France and Poland – one of the few such summits where Warsaw is treated as an equal by the European Union’s two big powers.
The German government has cited the principles of press freedom and says it would be inappropriate for it to apologise.
Mr Byrt, due this month to leave the diplomatic service, said Poland faced problems with its international image because many of its politicians lacked international experience.
“There is an over-sensitivity in Poland, because many new politicians hardly know foreign countries. They believe they control foreign reactions [to events in Poland] in the same way they do in Poland itself. To do this with foreign partners is perhaps not very sensible”.
He said the decision by Jaroslaw Kaczynski to become prime minister had been a long-planned “tactical move” by the twin brothers, even though they had only a few days ago denied such a decision was on the cards.
The new prime minister is expected to take office tomorrow, officials in Warsaw said yesterday, following the resignation of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the outgoing prime minister.
Tuesday’s outburst appeared linked to tensions within the ruling administration since the publication of the German newspaper article. The president has been critical of Poland’s foreign ministry, which he felt had failed to back him.
The ambassador said that, following a German radio interview he gave on Tuesday morning, officials in Warsaw had called and criticised him for speaking out. He nevertheless continued to grant other interviews.
Additional reporting by Nils Kreimeier in Berlin
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: July 11 2006 22:19 | Last updated: July 11 2006 22:19
Poland is “mishandling” relations with Germany, Warsaw’s ambassador to Berlin said on Tuesday , in a rare breach of diplomatic protocol that reflects underlying tensions within the administration of president Lech Kaczynski.
Speaking in a Financial Times interview in Berlin, ambassador Andrzej Byrt said Warsaw’s reaction to a controversial satirical article in a German newspaper in which the Polish president was compared to a potato had been “too emotional”.
He said a worsening of relations with Berlin in recent months was linked to the electoral successes last year of Mr Kaczynski and of his twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS). “The mood [between the countries] has deteriorated” since the Polish polls and the election of Angela Merkel as German chancellor, he said.
The Polish government has demanded an apology from the German government over the article in die Tageszeitung, a small circulation leftwing daily, which mocked both Mr Kaczynski and his brother, who is expected tomorrow to be confirmed as the country’s next prime minister. Analysts believe the president’s anger over the article prompted him to pull out of a meeting of the so-called “Weimar three” – Germany, France and Poland – one of the few such summits where Warsaw is treated as an equal by the European Union’s two big powers.
The German government has cited the principles of press freedom and says it would be inappropriate for it to apologise.
Mr Byrt, due this month to leave the diplomatic service, said Poland faced problems with its international image because many of its politicians lacked international experience.
“There is an over-sensitivity in Poland, because many new politicians hardly know foreign countries. They believe they control foreign reactions [to events in Poland] in the same way they do in Poland itself. To do this with foreign partners is perhaps not very sensible”.
He said the decision by Jaroslaw Kaczynski to become prime minister had been a long-planned “tactical move” by the twin brothers, even though they had only a few days ago denied such a decision was on the cards.
The new prime minister is expected to take office tomorrow, officials in Warsaw said yesterday, following the resignation of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the outgoing prime minister.
Tuesday’s outburst appeared linked to tensions within the ruling administration since the publication of the German newspaper article. The president has been critical of Poland’s foreign ministry, which he felt had failed to back him.
The ambassador said that, following a German radio interview he gave on Tuesday morning, officials in Warsaw had called and criticised him for speaking out. He nevertheless continued to grant other interviews.
Additional reporting by Nils Kreimeier in Berlin
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
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