On November 5, 2009, EWI’s New York office hosted a discussion about Euro-Atlantic relations with Janusz Reiter, the director of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, and the former Polish Ambassador to Germany and the United States. Pointing out the significance of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ambassador Reiter opened the floor for an important conversation on the European memory of German unification, and the future relationships between the United States, Germany, Poland and Russia.

 

The discussion focused on the importance of partnership and leadership among these four countries, and the complex interplay among them.  Ambassador Reiter noted the occasional tensions between an integrated European approach to common problems and the desire by some countries to deal with most problems at the bilateral level. He urged the EU, in particular, to develop a common strategy towards Russia and to offer the possibility of future membership to Ukraine. He pointed to energy security as a promising area of multilateral cooperation. And he welcomed the increasingly close ties between the United States and Germany, which are critical to ensuring a continued strong American presence in Europe.

Poland, he maintained, is now firmly anchored in NATO and the EU, and should never allow itself to be considered “in between” Germany and Russia.  He noted that recent developments, such as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Gdansk on the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, have signaled a more positive trend in Polish-Russian relations.