Polish politicians reacted strongly to former German chancellor Angela Merkel accusing Poland and the Baltic states of contributing to Russia’s attack on Ukraine—by blocking European Union/Russia dialogue in 2021.
Poland’s former deputy foreign minister Paweł Jabłoński indicated that Merkel’s claim—in an interview with Hungarian website Partizan—referred to June 2021, when an EU-Russia summit could have politically subordinated Ukraine and advanced Nord Stream 2. He credited Poland, its ex-PM Mateusz Morawiecki, and the Baltic states with blocking the plan.
Other officials—including Waldemar Buda MEP and former Education Minister Anna Zalewska—criticized Merkel for ignoring the consequences of Germany’s gas deals with Russia, arguing that they contributed to the war in Ukraine:
German arrogance and hubris know no bounds! Germany bears the brunt of Putin’s aggression, as evidenced by the Nord Stream I and Nord Stream II pipelines, built despite our objections.
Morawiecki himself took to X, formerly Twitter, grumbling:
Angela Merkel, with her thoughtless interview, proved that she is at the forefront of the most harmful German politicians to Europe in the last century.
