1.3 New beginnings, 1989 - 91

1.3 New beginnings, 1989 “91

1.3.1 The German “Polish Common Declaration, 1989

The unexpected events in Poland offered the chance for the Poles and Germans to re-examine their bilateral relations. Chancellor Kohl arrived in Poland on 9 November 1989, but returned to Germany the next day because of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The symbolic significance of this event was beyond question. Upon his return to Warsaw on 12 November Kohl and Prime Minister Mazowiecki signed a ˜Common Declaration , comprising 78 points in nine chapters, the most comprehensive political document since the German “Polish normalization treaty of 1970. A major breakthrough was made with regard to the rights of the German minority in Poland, and the Federal Republic pledged to support the transformation process in Poland. The two sides also signed eleven agreements and protocols, the provisions of which ranged from economic cooperation, financial arrangements and environmental matters to youth exchange programmes and cultural institutes. However no significant progress was made on the question of the German “Polish border.

1.3.2 Confirmation of the Polish “German border, 1990

The eventual resolution of the border question resulted from the negotiations between the two German states and four allied powers, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Soviet Union (the two-plus-four negotiations) that led to the reunification of Germany. After extensive political contacts and consultations, it was agreed in July 1990 in Paris that the united Germany, comprising the territories of the two German states, would recognize the existing German “Polish border in a bilateral, legally binding treaty. The treaty was signed on 14 November 1990 in Warsaw by the foreign ministers of Poland and Germany (Skubiszewski and Genscher), a year after the signing of the German “Polish Common Declaration. The treaty was ratified by the two states in October 1991. Thus the most sensitive political and psychological issue in German “Polish relations since World War II was closed.

There are many Polish words with roots in the German language, particularly with regard to buildings , for instance fundament (from the German Fundament “ foundation), mur ( Mauer “ wall), ceg‚a ( Ziegel “ brick), dach ( Dach “ roof) and ratusz ( Rathaus “ town hall), all of which entered the Polish language as a result of centuries of German “Polish cooperation. In the German language only few words originate from Polish, but one is highly symbolic: Grenze ( granica “ border), which was first used at the turn of the twelfth century in agreements on the delimitation of territories between the Teutonic Order and Polish princes (Kr mer, 1997, p. 14).

Border conflicts have been part of European history since its beginning. With the signing of the German “Polish border treaty in 1990 the two nations closed, it is to be hoped forever, a particularly bloody chapter of German “Polish history. The two countries can now devote their time and energy to building a common future “ an appropriate vocabulary and traditions already exist.

An immediate consequence of the 1990 border treaty was the bilateral introduction in April 1991 of the visa-free movement of tourists. This was one of the most visible and positive consequence of Poland s political change for both the country s citizens and their Western counterparts, as well as a decisive confirmation of the fact that acknowledged borders no longer constituted barriers for human beings. As German Foreign Minister Genscher put it in his speech at the signing of the border treaty in Warsaw, ˜The confirmation of this border, binding from the point of view of international law, is a decisive contribution to the perspective of Europe without frontiers (Ausw rtiges Amt, 1995).

1.3.3 The German “Polish Treaty on Good Neighbourliness, 1991

In order to solidify the 1990 border treaty the governments of the two countries promptly started to negotiate the contents of the German “Polish Treaty on Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. Signed on 17 June 1991 in Bonn by Polish Prime Minister Bielecki and German Chancellor Kohl, it was based on the declared ˜German “Polish community of interests .

This treaty was the first, most detailed and most comprehensive of those signed between Eastern and Western European countries after the collapse of communism. Its 38 articles covered the entire range of issues of interest to the two states, including bilateral and multilateral security, political, economic, social and cultural cooperation, the recognition of German minorities in Poland and of Germans of Polish origin in Germany, the establishment of a youth exchange programme (Jugendwerk), the maintenance of war graves and much more. It also took note of Poland s determination to join the European Union, but not with its (as yet unstated) readiness to join NATO: Soviet troops were still stationed in both Poland and East Germany. In tandem with the treaty it was decided to create a German “Polish Reconciliation Foundation to support surviving Polish victims of Nazism.

This treaty, which was ratified by the two countries parliaments in 1991, constituted a strengthening of the border treaty of November 1990. In the words of Poland s Foreign Minister Skubiszewski, while the border treaty had put an end to the most difficult issue in German “Polish relations, ˜The treaty of good neighbourliness and friendly cooperation is directed towards the future . . ., is a message for other nations of our continent , . . . it has a European dimension . . . and it confirms Europe s unity (Skubiszewski, 1997, pp. 180 “1).

For Germany the treaty was a fulfilment of Adenauer s wish to establish a permanent reconciliation with Poland, which due to international circumstances had taken longer than expected to come into being. For Poland the treaty was to serve as a model for its negotiations with its six other neighbouring countries “ the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia “ none of which had functioned as a sovereign state before the collapse of the communist order in Central and Eastern Europe. The Polish “German treaty therefore created a new paradigm for Poland s foreign policy: establishing and developing friendly relations with all its new neighbours, born out of the political and economic transformation of the central part of the European continent.