President Horst Köhler declares Poland a symbol of success during Warsaw visit

"Germany will have no financial claims on behalf of the Germans exiled from Poland during World War II," declared German President Horst Köhler during his visit to Warsaw yesterday. The President also declared that he had chosen Poland as the destination for his first official foreign visit in order to show that, "We are looking forward" in Polish-German relations. "This required a very deep and mature decision and we are grateful for that," replied Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Köhler replied by stating that the declaration signed by Kwaśniewski and the previous German president Johannes Rau in 2003, in Gdańsk, was "A step in a good direction". He also complimented the Polish government, saying that, "All over the world Poland is a symbol of a successful transformation process." (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5: Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 4) A.F.