German-Polish Relations in the Sejm and Senate Debate

The paper concerns the position of Polish MPs and senators on shaping the principles of German-Polish cooperation in a situation in which Poland regains full sovereignty in foreign policy. The position of Polish deputies was analysed on the basis of stenographic reports from plenary sessions of the Sejm and Senate concerning the preparation and ratification of treaties with Germany on confirming the border and on good neighbourhood. In particular, it was a question of examining whether MPs and senators supported the concept of a G erman-Polish community of interest, which was defined and presented in the Sejm by Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski. During the ratification debate, supporters of both treaties pointed out that they enabled Poland to leave the Eastern Bloc, making Poland independent of the support of the USSR for the western border. They also provided an opportunity for German support on Poland’s way to the European Communities. MPs and senators understood that it was possible to build a G erman-Polish community of interest on the basis of supporting and expanding the integration process and thus completely change Poland’s geopolitical situation. This did not mean that the solutions adopted in the treaty on good neighbourhood, especially with regard to compensation, the status of Poles in Germany and the German minority in Poland, were fully accepted.

The paper concerns the position of Polish MPs and senators on shaping the principles of German-Polish cooperation in a situation in which Poland regains full sovereignty in foreign policy. The position of Polish deputies was analysed on the basis of stenographic reports from plenary sessions of the Sejm and Senate concerning the preparation and ratification of treaties with Germany on confirming the border and on good neighbourhood. In particular, it was a question of examining whether MPs and senators supported the concept of a G erman-Polish community of interest, which was defined and presented in the Sejm by Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski. During the ratification debate, supporters of both treaties pointed out that they enabled Poland to leave the Eastern Bloc, making Poland independent of the support of the USSR for the western border. They also provided an opportunity for German support on Poland’s way to the European Communities. MPs and senators understood that it was possible to build a G erman-Polish community of interest on the basis of supporting and expanding the integration process and thus completely change Poland’s geopolitical situation. This did not mean that the solutions adopted in the treaty on good neighbourhood, especially with regard to compensation, the status of Poles in Germany and the German minority in Poland, were fully accepted.