Söder laid a wreath at the monument to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1944 and knelt down. Brandt also knelt in the same place. The event represented a turning point in the tense relations between West Germany and Poland during the Cold War, and Brandt’s gesture was perceived as a plea for forgiveness for the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during World War II, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
“We want to start a new chapter in relations with Poland. Poland is an important partner in the areas of security and migration policy,” said Söder. He added that Bavaria is also interested in deepening economic cooperation. The new Bavarian representation in Warsaw would help. The representative office of the Free State of Bavaria has been operating in Prague since 2014.
The head of Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), Söder, is visiting Warsaw a day after the head of his sister Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and joint CDU/CSU chancellor candidate in the upcoming early elections, Friedrich Merz.
In the Czech Republic, it will be the core
The Bavarian Prime Minister in Warsaw announced that all Bavarian monuments commemorating the victims of Nazism will also have inscriptions in Polish in the future. Many Poles and Polish Jews were also imprisoned and murdered in German concentration camps during the Second World War.
On Thursday, Söder will visit Prague, where he will meet Prime Minister Fiala. The Bavarian Prime Minister announced that he wants to negotiate in the Czech Republic, among other things, on cooperation in nuclear energy, he would like to ensure the supply of electricity to Bavaria from Czech nuclear power plants. According to Söder, there is also a discussion on cultural and language exchange on the agenda.
Friedrich Merz will lead the German opposition in the parliamentary elections
Elections
