Experts: Berlin-Warsaw ties will suffer after Nawrocki's election win

Relations between Berlin and Warsaw could suffer after conservative Karol Nawrocki won Poland's presidential election, German foreign policy experts warned on Monday.

Lawmaker Paul Ziemiak said cooperation between Germany and Poland is "fundamentally important" for Europe.

However, Ziemiak told the Deutschlandfunk radio station that the relationship could become strained after Nawrocki's victory in Sunday's election.

"It will not be easier with this new president, Karol Nawrocki," said Ziemiak, who leads the German-Polish parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.

During the election campaign, Nawrocki argued that Germany could never be trusted, Agniezka Lada-Konefal from the German Institute of Polish Affairs told dpa.

Nawrocki, a conservative historian, pledged he would fight for World War II reparations from Germany, an issue that has long proved contentious between the two countries.

As head of state, Nawrocki will not be able to initiate any concrete steps on reparations, but he can influence the atmosphere in bilateral relations with his rhetoric, said Lada-Konefal.

Furthermore, she said the result will likely make life difficult for Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who could struggle to pass his reform agenda due to Nawrocki's veto power.

Tusk is seen as close to Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the pair having already held several meetings since the latter took office last month.

Lada-Konefal said Tusk will have to "avoid any positive movements in the direction of Germany" ahead of parliamentary elections in 2027. "Major German-Polish initiatives are therefore not to be expected," she argued.