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Poles love Merkel

PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper 25.07.2015 07:00
The Polish stereotype of "the odious German" has long passed out of date, writes German newspaper "Suedwest Presse."
Kanclerz Niemiec Angela MerkelKanclerz Niemiec Angela MerkelFoto: PAP/Maciej Kulczyński

Jens Mattern writes in the paper about the admiration that Poles have for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

"Even the national-conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) before the upcoming parliamentary elections has so far not used anti-German rhetoric. As is clear from surveys, Merkel is the most popular foreign politician," Mattern writes.

"Poles’ admiration goes so far that the weekly magazine "Wprost" in 2013 named the German chancellor 'Man of the Year' and said the EU had been a stabilising factor in the financial crisis, Mattern goes on.

Ten years ago things looked completely different, the article "Poles admire Merkel" goes on.

Mattern notes that CDU MP Erika Steinbach (who heads the movement of Germans expelled from lands given to Poland after WWII) had been a "hideous German" and that the weekly even depicted her in an SS uniform.

Mattern goes on that "Poles feared that someone wanted to push them into the role of the perpetrators," but that this had changed.

The author also points to former foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, in 2011 saying in relation to the euro crisis that Poland was less afraid of German leadership than German inaction. (jh)

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