After long delay, Poland accepts German envoy whose father was Nazi officer

Poland has accepted the appointment of a new German ambassador after an unusual delay of three months, reportedly rooted in Polish grievances over World War II.

Polish media have reported that the country’s conservative and nationalist ruling party, Law and Justice, resisted accepting Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven as an ambassador because his father served as a military officer for Nazi Germany during the war.

Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland 81 years ago Tuesday sparked World War II, in which nearly 6 million Polish citizens died.

The three-month delay in Poland approving the agrément, or official diplomatic approval, for von Loringhoven had caused some tensions between Poland and Germany. The ties were already strained by other issues, including the Polish government’s anger over critical coverage of President Andrzej Duda in some independent media outlets with partial German ownership.

Jürgen Hardt, a foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc in parliament, welcomes the step but calls it “overdue.” He notes that the news reached him on the anniversary of the start of the war.

“It remains incomprehensible to us that the Polish government delayed the granting of the agrément for so long,” Hardt says. “Ambassador Freytag von Loringhoven is an experienced diplomat who has worked all his life for a close and trusting cooperation with Poland.”

— AP