Angela Merkel visits Poland

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with top Polish officials during her one day visit to Warsaw on Tuesday. Merkel met with Polish PM Beata Szydło to discuss EU's politics and Polish-German relations. “I am convinced that good partnership is crucial for the success of the European project,” Szydło said after the meeting. “Poland is of the opinion that we should be focused on the development of the European Union, bringing the European Union together, but with respect for and strengthening of nation states,” she added Merkel commented on recent EU criticism of Polish government concerning its approach to the rule of law. “Without Solidarity, perhaps European unity, the end of the Cold War wouldn’t have occurred so quickly, nor German reunification,” Merkel said. “From this time, we realized how important pluralistic societies are, how important independent justice systems and media are –- because those are the things that were missing back then,” she said alluding to some EU politicians concerns about Law and Justice reforms of the media and judiciary systems. Merkel also held talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda regarding EU-US cooperation, the future of the bloc and Ukraine. She also spoke with the governing Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who recently said in an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung  that “Frau Merkel would be best for us,” regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections in Germany. However in the same interview he also criticized Germany for dominating EU politics. “Merkel is the absolute No. 1 in the EU and that is not a healthy situation,” he said.