Polish-German relations have gone sour

Germany and Poland have never been great friends, but Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could have been a turning-point. Relations had improved during the tenure of Civic Platform, a centrist party, only to sour again after the populist Law and Justice (pis) party won the elections in 2015. A major sticking point was Germany’s relationship with Russia, which Poles considered dangerously chummy.

Russia’s assault on its neighbour has outraged Germans and Poles alike. Yet there has been no rapprochement between Mitteleuropa’s biggest countries. Days after the invasion Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, heralded a Zeitenwende, or seismic shift, in foreign and security policy. But Polish politicians were soon denouncing Germany for doing too little too late—with some reason, as German arms have been slow to arrive in Ukraine. They also pillory German officials for continuing to talk to Russian ones.