WARSAW: After signing defense pacts with France and the UK, Warsaw is signing one with Germany on Wednesday, but its scope was trimmed due to fears of right-wing opposition and a potential presidential veto. Poland, the only NATO member to border both Russia and Ukraine, has sought to bolster its defense in more than four years of Moscow&#39;s invasion next door. It has doubled down on treaties with European allies as the future of US troops on the continent has come under question. The Polish and German defense ministers are due to sign agreements in Warsaw to mark 35 years since the 1991 Treaty of Good Neighborship, which opened a new chapter in ties after the Cold War. Warsaw-Berlin ties have improved since pro-EU Donald Tusk returned to power, after years of tense relations during hard-right governments in Warsaw. But according to Warsaw, Wednesday&#39;s agreements will build on an existing 2011 framework, mainly covering cooperation in the Baltic Sea, infrastructure and cybersecurity. They will stop short of including mutual security clauses outside existing NATO and EU commitments. Polish media reports said there were plans for a more ambitious pact, but Tusk&#39;s government opted for a reduced version, expecting opposition from nationalist president Karol Nawrocki and the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. &quot;We all know Law and Justice&#39;s and the president&#39;s obsession with anything to do with Germany, so of course he would veto it,&quot; Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Polish media this month, referring to Nawrocki. Poland&#39;s nationalist parties have for years built on deeply ingrained suspicions of Germany in the country, vastly destroyed during WWII. Baltic Sea cooperationNawrocki, a conservative ally of US leader Donald Trump, has yet to ratify the treaty signed with the UK. The pacts with London and Paris were deemed historic by Warsaw and signed by heads of state, while the German agreements will be signed at the ministerial level. Still, the agreement provides for stepped-up military coordination between the neighbors to work more closely in the Baltic Sea, in space cooperation, critical infrastructure and cyber-security. It could also pave the way for German soldiers to help Poland strengthen its eastern borders. Piotr Szymanski, a researcher at Warsaw&#39;s Centre for Eastern Studies, said the pacts will be important given &quot;NATO&#39;s increased vigilance, including efforts to protect critical underwater infrastructure and monitor the so-called &#39;shadow fleet&#39;.&quot; &#39;Political consultations&#39;While the agreements will be signed in Warsaw, Foreign Minister Sikorski will be in Berlin for talks with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul. The pair will hold &quot;political consultations focused on bilateral, security and defence policy, which will reaffirm their commitment to continuing support for Ukraine&quot;, Warsaw&#39;s foreign ministry said. The meeting comes days after Tusk criticised allies for not involving Poland in recent talks on Ukraine in London. &quot;I told him that, from the Polish point of view, any agreements in which Poland was not involved will not be respected by us, they will not bind us,&quot; Tusk said he told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz by phone after the London talks. Warsaw has also been critical of proposals floated by some EU countries -- including Germany -- on restarting a dialogue with the Kremlin to end the Ukraine war. The Polish-German agreements come ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara next month, when the Europeans aim to act in unison, with the US presence on their continent expected to be a central point of talks. A reduction in US capabilities would mean a greater role for Poland and Germany, Poland&#39;s deputy defense minister, Pawel Zalewski, has said.

Germany-Poland border (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Europe

Defense cooperation agreement focuses on Baltic security, infrastructure and cybersecurity, as Warsaw strengthens European alliances amid concerns over future US military commitments and domestic political opposition.

Articles tagged with "defence deals"

Poland and Germany to sign scaled down defense deals