At the start of their joint press conference Angela Merkel praised Poland’s role in the transformation of Europe 25 years ago. "We genuinely appreciate the gift of change." Poland played a pivotal part in instigating these changes, she added.

Their meeting also looked at the engagement of the two countries within NATO and the crisis in Ukraine. In response to a question, the Chancellor stated that she did not believe that the serious problems between Ukraine and Russia would be solved at once.

The topics for the next meeting of the European Council on 23 and 24 October were also addressed. These include the economic situation within the European Union, but also climate negotiations, said Angela Merkel.

Both Angela Merkel and Ewa Kopacz aim to hold "as soon as possible" the German-Polish government consultations, which had to be postponed earlier.

Forging even closer partnership

With France, Poland is one of Germany’s key partners within the European Union. In its coalition agreement, the German government undertook "to take our partnership with Poland to a new level and further develop the manifold relations between us and our neighbour".

Since 1991, Poland, Germany and France have been members of the Weimar Triangle, with regular meetings held at various levels.

Economic relations
Germany and Poland have close economic ties. For twenty years now, Germany has been Poland’s main trading partner by a long way. More than one quarter of Polish exports are destined for Germany. Germany’s main exports to Poland are machinery and electrical engineering products, plant, vehicles, chemicals and plastics. German businesses top the ranking tables for foreign direct investment in Poland, both in terms of numbers and in terms of total investment. German direct investment in 2012 alone totalled 3.5 billion euros.