Scholz, Polish prime minister discuss migration, energy, EU

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, came to Warsaw Sunday for talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki about migration, energy, European Union matters and tensions east of the bloc’s border.

He was greeted by Morawiecki, with military honors, in front of the Polish premier's office. It was one of Scholz’s early visits after he was sworn in with his coalition Cabinet on Wednesday.

Poland is a vocal opponent of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will carry Russian gas directly to Germany, saying it makes Europe dependent on Russia's deliveries, and exposes it to pressure from Moscow. Germany's regulator has suspended the approval procedure for the completed pipeline because of legal issues.

The government in Warsaw is also involved in an intensifying dispute with the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which is withholding pandemic recovery funds from Poland saying the government's policies erode judicial independence there.

Scholz and Morawiecki are also to discuss complex bilateral relations under Germany’s new government. The good neighborly ties are still overshadowed by World War II, especially under Poland's current right-wing government, which is saying Germany owes Poland compensation for wartime damages.

Agnieszka Lada-Konefal, the deputy director of the German Institute for Polish Affairs in Darmstadt, Germany, expects Scholz's government to continue dialogue and contact with Poland, which is an important member on EU's eastern flank and Germany's fifth-largest trading partner.

The visit comes 30 years after the two parliaments ratified a treaty on good neighborly relations and friendly cooperation.

Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, was in Warsaw on Friday. She voiced Germany's support for Poland...