Don't mention the ... Constitution

"I think it's time to close the book on certain issues for the sake of our good relations," President Lech Kaczyński said upon his arrival to Germany last week.

During his visit, Kaczyński and his counterpart, Horst Koehler, agreed that the commemoration of post-WWII expulsions should fall under the competencies of a pan-European network called Remembrance and Solidarity, which would commemorate all those forcibly relocated in the region.

Kaczyński and ruling Law and Justice (PiS) are known to be staunch opponents of the proposed Center for the Expelled in Berlin, which would memorialize the removal of Germans from north and west Poland after World War II.

Although the countries may have closed the chapter on their historical disagreement, current differences between the two countries are far from resolved. The President has long criticized the plan to build a Baltic pipeline connecting Russian and German gas networks and bypassing Poland. During the President's meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, it was agreed that a joint working group will continue to study the issue.

There was also much talk about Poland's "Gas-NATO" proposal, which envisages an alliance aimed at ensuring the member states' energy security. The Germans are one of the few countries interested in the project. However, they oppose its apparently anti-Russian nature and the inclusion of the United States in the undertaking. 

But it's the European issues where the differences are most conspicuous. In recent weeks German Chancellor Angela Merkel has tried to revive the discussion on the European Constitution. Kaczyński and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) represent a more nationalistic stand and oppose deeper integration within the EU, claiming that the highest-possible degree of integration has already been reached.

Prior to his visit to Germany Kaczyński repeatedly said that the Constitution was "dead" and that reform of the EU must begin anew.