A year ago, at the last district assembly meeting in 2020, Marese Hoffmann pointed out the political imbalance in Poland in her annual report on the partnership with the Oświęcim district. Since then, the situation in the neighboring country has worsened again. Reason enough for the partnership officer of the district of Dachau to speak again about how dramatic the situation is from their point of view – and why it is so important to maintain German-Polish friendship despite all the problems.
It is clear, according to Hoffmann, that the Polish government is “100 percent against the EU” on some crucial points. For example with a judicial reform which, according to the European Court of Justice, will de facto lead to a dismantling of the rule of law. Likewise, Poland’s stance in the conflict with Belarus is “anti-democratic” and the so-called pushbacks in the border area are illegal. It is also worrying that the Polish government is striving for a “new interpretation of history” in which Poland only plays the role of victim. However, and Hoffmann also emphasizes, there are many Poles who see themselves as Europeans and who oppose the government’s opinion. “Hardly any other European country is as divided as Poland,” said Hoffmann.
To clarify the scope of the conflict, Hoffmann quotes from a letter from Oświęcim’s District Administrator Andrzej Skrzypiński: “The policy of the current government is leading to the isolation of Poland” – and thus possibly ultimately to an exit from the EU, to a “Polexit”. According to Hoffmann, that shouldn’t happen. Their appeal is therefore: one must support those pro-European Poles in their struggle for democracy “before it is too late”.
District Administrator Stefan Löwl (CSU) affirmed that the differences at the political level are only one thing, the exchange with local people is the other. “Civil society we have to work on.” In addition, one must be aware that the partnerships did not arise from the “good weather phase”, but after the war. And precisely because of the history of Dachau you have a special “historical legacy”.
AfD district councilor Markus Kellerer accuses Hoffmann of “missing the topic” after her speech: It was not an annual report on the district partnership. The “Poland bashing” carried out therein is not appropriate. Applause comes from his group. District Administrator Löwl counters this: It is up to the partnership commissioner to “stand up for European values”. Incidentally, the former district council always represented the “European canon of values” and he hoped that the current district council would do the same. Thereupon all district councilors applaud again with the exception of the AfD.