A low point in German-Polish relations
The new German ambassador’s father loomed large over his appointment
EVEN JACEK CZAPUTOWICZ, the outgoing Polish foreign minister, called the delay “strange” in an interview on August 31st with Rzeczpospolita, a Polish daily. For three months Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven was waiting in his apartment in Berlin for his agrément (official diplomatic approval) as German envoy to Warsaw, usually a swift formality. The order to procrastinate came reportedly from high up: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, and Poland’s de facto leader, opposed Mr Freytag von Loringhoven’s appointment because his father served as a military officer in Hitler’s bunker during the last months of the second world war. (Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven was never charged with any war crime.)
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Not much of a welcome”
From the September 5th 2020 edition
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