Poland-Germany tensions lay bare crack in unified Ukraine front

Quarrelling in Warsaw and Berlin over missiles, tanks and spare parts has reached a new level, as Polish leaders lose no opportunity to take aim at Germany

Old grievances resurface months ahead of election in Poland, although German officials say tensions will recede after the campaigning is over

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A Ukrainian army soldier, wearing Polish army uniform, in a Leopard 2 A4 tank during an exercise at the Swietoszow Tank Training Center in Swietoszow, Poland, in February 2023. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:54pm, 5 Mar 2023Updated: 3:54pm, 5 Mar 2023

As Nato allies make a show of unity in support of Ukraine, a rift between Germany and Poland risks undermining a joint effort to supply Kyiv’s forces.

Quarrelling in Warsaw and Berlin over missiles, tanks and spare parts has reached a new level, even as President Volodymyr Zelensky calls on Western backers to “hurry up” in delivering armaments before any spring offensive gets under way.

Polish leaders are now losing no opportunity to take aim at Berlin, a familiar target. Recently the accusations have focused on foot-dragging on sending battle tanks to the front – which triggered a threat to send German-made armour without Berlin’s approval.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda (left) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a meeting in Munich in February 2023. Photo: AFP

After Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the green light to send state-of-the-art Leopard tanks – for which Poland took much of the credit – the Poles struggled to fulfil a commitment to send their own older-model Leopards, charging that Germany had not sent spare parts.

“The main responsibility rests with the Federal Republic of Germany, the main producer of those tanks,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said last week. “We’ve been urging the German side for so long to join the tank coalition and not only deliver the tanks, but also the spare parts.”

The barbed exchanges come months ahead of an election, likely in October, that could cost the nationalist Law and Justice party its grip on power. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s most influential politician, began last year to elevate Germany as a prime target in the campaign, including a centrepiece demand that Germany pay $1.3 trillion in compensation for wartime damage.

Complaints in Warsaw are on the rise. The government often views Germany as more focused on competing with Poland for international kudos – responding in kind to training Ukrainian soldiers or making tanks available – than actually giving Kyiv what it needs, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Old grievances are resurfacing. Germany’s envoy responded to comments by Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak that Germany’s energy policy sent billions to Moscow with a sharp response on Twitter.

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