Having already visited preferred partners such as US President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, Poland's new president, Karol Nawrocki, will on Monday evening travel to Germany, a country that Polish right-wing conservatives deeply mistrust. While there, he will meet both German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday. From Berlin, he will travel on to Paris. Both during his presidential election campaign and since his inauguration six weeks ago, Nawrocki has made no secret of his reservations towards Poland's western neighbor, which he alleges dominates the EU together with France — to the detriment of Poland, of course. Nawrocki demands war reparations Nawrocki reiterated his country's claims to war reparations from Germany during a speech on September 1 on the occasion of the 86th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. He also said that any future partnership between the two countries depends on resolving this issue. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks to Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Behind them are a number of men: some in suits, some in military uniformPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks to Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Behind them are a number of men: some in suits, some in military uniform Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (left) and President Karol Nawrocki (right) attend the ceremony marking the 86th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939Image: Adam Warzawa/PAP/dpa/picture alliance "To build a partnership with our western neighbor based on the foundations of truth and good relations, we must finally settle the issue of reparations from the German state, which I unequivocally demand," he said at the Westerplatte Monument war memorial near Gdansk. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the opposition right-wing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, went one step further on September 1 and called Germany a "post-Nazi state" that had neither punished Nazi criminals nor compensated Nazi victims. In September 2022, a Polish parliamentary commission estimated that Polish war damages amounted to 6.2 trillion zloty (approx. €1.5 trillion or $1.7 trillion). Germany says matter is already settled Poland's center-left government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been trying for two years to secure financial support for surviving victims of Nazi Germany, of whom there are an estimated 70,000. So far, it has been unsuccessful. A recent survey shows that the majority of Poles (54%) support the demand for reparations. Nawrocki's spokesman Rafal Leskiewicz recently confirmed that reparations will be on the agenda of the president's talks in Berlin. Berlin rejects the demands for reparations payments. Knut Abraham, the German government's Coordinator of German-Polish Cooperation, has emphasized that the matter has already been legally settled. He also pointed to the security cooperation between the two countries. "Unlike in the past, where Poland was the victim, Germany and Poland now stand up for each other. And we must back this up both militarily and financially," Abraham told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. Focus on security after drone attack Security has become a priority issue after Russian drones breached Polish airspace last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Washington's disappointing response to the incursion was a "slap in the face" for Nawrocki, wrote the Polish online news platform ONET. Polish President Karol Nawrocki and US President Donald Trump stand side by side looking up into the air. Trump is pointing at something with his right index finger. Men in military uniform can be seen beside Nawrocki and behind Trump. White House, Washington, US, September 3, 2025Polish President Karol Nawrocki and US President Donald Trump stand side by side looking up into the air. Trump is pointing at something with his right index finger. Men in military uniform can be seen beside Nawrocki and behind Trump. White House, Washington, US, September 3, 2025 Nawrocki's first international trip as Polish president was to Washington, where he met US President Donald TrumpImage: Aaron Schwartz/ABACAPRESS/IMAGO Unlike the US, Poland's European NATO partners — including Germany — responded swiftly to the provocation. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, extended its activities on NATO's eastern frontier, including using Eurofighter jets to monitor Polish airspace. The number of aircraft was doubled from two to four. Opportunity for a German-Polish security partnership? "Trump's maneuvering and the swift support from Europe should make Nawrocki think," Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told DW. When asked whether he thought there is a chance for a German-Polish security partnership, Buras replied: "If not now, when?" As supreme commander of the Polish army, President Nawrocki, who has thus far built his security policy on a special relationship with the United States and President Trump, could change tack. Political scientist Agnieszka Lada-Konefal, deputy director of the German Poland Institute (DPI), is, however, skeptical. "Poland's right wing will not change its attitude to Germany because it does not allow itself to be driven by rational arguments but by political calculations," she told DW. "Anti-German rhetoric brings political advantages. It is worthwhile portraying the Germans as the bogeymen and to paint Germany's policies as suspect." Normalization but no close relationship While the election victory of the center-left coalition led by Donald Tusk in October 2023 brought about a normalization of German-Polish relations after eight years of PiS rule in Warsaw, it did not bring the expected turnaround.