Germany's image in Poland remains good, although more and more Poles have doubts about their western neighbor and its activities in Europe. Compared to the previous year, there was a clear improvement in Poland's image in Germany. These are the results of the latest edition of the “Barometer Poland-Germany”, a cyclical, representative survey on what Poles and Germans think about each other.
The current Barometer, developed after last year's elections in Poland, which ended the eight-year rule of Law and Justice, states that anti-German rhetoric PIS left a mark on Polish opinions about Germany. And although there is no significant increase in negative opinions about the western neighbor, there are fewer positive opinions, and more and more people seem to be unsure about how to assess Germany.
– Harsh anti-German rhetoric and showing Germany in a bad light during the years of rule by Law and Justice have permanently influenced the views of Poles, and the change of power in Poland has not stopped this trend – comments the study's co-author, sociologist Dr. Jacek Kucharczyk from the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, commenting on the results.
The authors of the Barometer state that the deterioration of Germany's image was probably influenced not only by the above-mentioned anti-German tones, but also by the increasingly frequent reports of problems German economy, difficulties with integrating immigrants and the rise of extreme political groups.
At the same time, it is clear that in recent years it has been fruitful to focus on the difficult Polish-German history and to demand reparations from Germany for the crimes of World War II. The percentage of Poles who believe that the past should be the key topic in Polish-German relations has increased significantly (by as much as 15 percentage points).
Despite this height, it's close half of Poles (49%) and two thirds of Germans (64%) are convinced that mutual relations should primarily focus on present and future issues.
Good assessment of mutual relations
On both sides border the assessment of the state of Polish-German relations has improved. Currently, it is considered good by the same group of two-thirds of respondents in both countries.
– Public opinion believed the repeated assurances of the ruling politicians that mutual relations would return to the path of cooperation, even though in reality few specific steps towards this enhanced cooperation were implemented – comments co-author of the study, Dr. Agnieszka Łada-Konefał from the German Institute of Polish Affairs in Darmstadt.
In recent years Poland had extremely bad press in Germany, and negative comments concerned many areas of the country's functioning. The latest study shows that there has been a clear improvement. Assessments of the functioning of the Polish state in various areas improved by at least four to fourteen percentage points. “The greatest improvement was noted for the argument 'the principles of democracy and the rule of law are respected,' which is the most criticized topic, also in the German media, in recent years,” the authors write.
War, dumplings, economy, tourism
The most common associations of Poles with Germany are still those related to history, especially the tragedy of World War II. Every fifth respondent mentioned them in the study. However, the authors of the Barometer note that other, neutral associations occur almost as often. 19 percent of respondents associated the word “Germany” simply with a country or people, and another 15 percent associated Germany with prosperity.
At the same time, an increase in negative assessments of German character traits and an increase in negative emotions caused by Germans among Poles is observed. “We can venture a thesis here that although war associations are less dominant than five years ago, their presence in the public debate has effectively influenced the negative tone of other Polish associations with Germany,” we read in the Barometer.
Interestingly, Germans associate Poland and Poles primarily with tourism, good cuisine, culture and hospitality. It is worth noting, however, that as many as 18 percent of the Germans surveyed had no associations with Poland (this is as much as three times more than in the case of Poles asked about associations with Germany). The lack of any associations can probably be interpreted as a complete lack of interest in the neighbor among this quite large group of respondents.
There is a small group of Germans for whom the word “Poland” evokes associations with history. In the latest study, it is 6 percent (with only 2.5 percent relating to World War II or the topic of reparations). There are traces of associations, widespread in the past, with Poland as a country of disorder or Poles as thieves.. They no longer have a negative connotation with Poles taking up work in Germany, which was also different in the past. As we read in the report, currently the answers in this area are either unambiguously praising Poles, considering them good employees, or are neutral. There is almost no talk of taking jobs from Germans or lowering wages.
Germany with problems
The majority of Poles (65%) still consider Germany to be a modern country with a well-developing economy, although, given the increasingly frequent reports of not only seasonal, but even structural problems in the German economy, a downward trend is visible. “Just two years ago, in the 2022 study, as many as 74 percent of Polish respondents believed that the German economy was developing well,” we read.
As in previous years, it is clearly visible that Poles' opinion about Germans depends heavily on political sympathies. Supporters of the Civic Coalition gave clearly more positive answers about Germany than voters of Law and Justice. “However, it is worth noting here that the average opinions of Law and Justice supporters are in each case higher than the value of 3.00, i.e. a neutral rating. Therefore, it can be said that the average Law and Justice supporter has a neutral or moderately positive opinion about Germany as a country ” – the authors emphasize.
Support for Ukraine
As in previous years, Poles demand decisive action in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine to a greater extent than Germans. Applying more sanctions 75 percent want economic benefits in Poland. subjects. In Germany there are 58 percent of them. When it comes to the controversial issue of arms supplies, 63% of people in Poland support it. asked, and in Germany 49 percent Both in Poland and Germany, however, there is a decline in support for the steps taken after the start of the war. At the same time, it can be observed that Poles and Germans almost equally regard Russia as a threat to their security. (68% of Poles and 60% of Germans).
The “Poland-Germany Barometer” has been carried out periodically since 2000. This is a joint project of the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw and the German Institute of Polish Affairs in Darmstadt, carried out with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation. Ipsos was responsible for carrying out the research. The study was conducted using the CAWI method (using an online panel) on a representative group of 1,000 residents of Poland and 1,000 residents of Germany.
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle