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Germany FM to discuss situation in Ukraine, bilateral cooperation in Poland Thursday

Steinmeier had announced his visit to Poland at the ceremony marking his assumption of office on Wednesday

Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier

© EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

WARSAW, December 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Germany's new Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier is due to visit Poland on Thursday. He is to meet with his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, and with President of the Republic Bronislaw Komorowski.

The Polish Foreign Ministry reports, "Warsaw has found itself among such European capitals as Paris and Brussels which Minister Steinmeier visits in the first place following his assumption of office, which is a proof of our close cooperation".

"The ministerial talks will be devoted mainly to Polish-German bilateral relations, current affairs of the European Union (EU), as well as the Eastern policy," Marcin Wojciechowski, Foreign Ministry's press secretary, pointed out. "Poland and Germany adhere to similar positions on the EU policy and on efforts to overcome the crisis in the Organization," he added.

Besides, Wojciechowski said, cooperation within the framework of the Weimar Triangle, which brings together Germany, Poland, and France, will be also an important subject for discussion. "We also want to conduct a dialogue within the scope of the Kaliningrad Triangle in a Poland-Germany-Russia format," he said.

Steinmeier had announced his visit to Poland at the ceremony marking his assumption of office on Wednesday. "On Thursday I shall travel to Poland so that together with our Polish neighbors, who know about Ukraine more than all the Europeans, to mull it over what we can do together to overcome the political blockade in Kiev," he said. Steinmeier said the recent interview given by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski to the German newspaper Frankfurter Algemeine zeitung had prompted a decision on such a prompt visit to Poland. In the interview the Polish leader put several questions concerning Ukraine to the Europeans. "This refers to whether Brussels neglected Ukraine's weakness too much by demanding too much from Kiev that found itself confronted with the choice between the West and East," the Minister explained. "I have no answers to those questions but I am sure that we have got to find them before we shall be able to help stabilize the situation in Ukraine", he said in conclusion.

The Polish news agency PAP, referring to government sources, reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would arrive in Poland soon. The visit is expected to be made after January 6 next.

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