Poland summons German ambassador over politicians' comments

Germany's ambassador to Warsaw is set to meet with Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski on Monday, as a row between the two countries concerning the new Polish government's policies continued to deepen, the Deutsche Welle‎ reported Sunday.

A statement from the foreign ministry referenced "anti-Polish remarks by German politicians" after multiple politicians had questioned legislation supported by Poland's right-wing government.

But spokesman for the German embassy in Warsaw Lukas Wasielewski played down the meeting, saying it did not represent a formal diplomatic summons. Instead he said he expects "a conversation among partners."

As Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz took to television on Sunday to criticize Germany for trying to "instruct others about democracy and freedom," his compatriot, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, issued a confrontational letter to European Union Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

In the statement published by state news agency PAP on Saturday, Ziobro called the German politician "silly" and alluded to the Nazi occupation of Poland.

Oettinger recently gave a newspaper interview in which he suggested Poland be put under the EU's rule of law supervision over new legislation that would give Warsaw complete control over the leadership of state-run broadcasters.

"I am not in the habit of replying to silly comments on Poland made by foreign politicians," Ziobro wrote in the open letter.
"Such words, said by a German politician, cause the worst of connotations among Poles. Also in me. I'm a grandson of a Polish officer, who during World War II fought in the underground National Army with 'German supervision'," he said.

Relations between the EU and Poland have also deteriorated since Ziobro's Law and Justice Party (PiS) won the general election in October on a nationalistic, Euroskeptic platform.

Source: MENA