Merkel lobbies Poles on EU treaty

Several issues divide Chancellor Merkel and President Kaczynski

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Poland to back Germany's efforts to get an EU constitution adopted by 2009.

Speaking in Warsaw, she warned that failure on the constitution would be "an historic missed opportunity". Germany is the current EU president.

Mrs Merkel is holding talks with Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Relations between Germany and Poland have been strained in recent months.

The Polish government has expressed strong reservations about the EU constitution. Instead it is hoping to push for a new, slimmed-down version of the treaty.

In an interview published ahead of the visit, a senior Polish official accused Berlin of being ill-disposed towards Warsaw.

Mariusz Muszynski, a Polish government adviser on relations with Germany, said the German government's policy - for example, on the Baltic Sea pipeline, which will pump gas directly from Russia to Germany - was essentially "nationalistic and egotistical".

Missile shield

German-Polish relations have also suffered from historical sensitivities, such as the claims of Germans displaced from eastern Europe at the end of World War II.

Speaking at Warsaw University, Mrs Merkel rejected their demands for compensation and said "there can be no talk of a reinterpretation of history by Germany".

But she also said the displaced Germans should be allowed to "commemorate their fate with dignity".

Her talks are expected to cover Polish co-operation with a controversial US missile defence project. Russia objects strongly to the US plan.

She is expected to spell out her view that the missile shield should be discussed within the framework of Nato, rather than bilaterally, and she has reiterated that she would like "open discussions" with Russia.