Berlin, 16 April 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz paid a farewell visit to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Wednesday, just three weeks before the scheduled end of his term in office.

According to sources close to the chancellor, the private talks lasted around four hours. No official details about the content of the meeting were disclosed.

The visit was announced on short notice last week and is considered unusual for a chancellor in the final, transitional phase of office - especially outside the context of international summits.

Since the inaugural session of the new Bundestag in late March, Scholz has been serving in an acting capacity only.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz is to become Germany's next chancellor following the parliamentary elections in February. Scholz is set to formally hand over the reins of office on May 6.

Poland is currently in the midst of an election campaign, with the first round of the presidential election scheduled for May 18.

Merz had previously stated before the Bundestag election that he plans to visit Poland and France on his first day as chancellor.

Merz aims to establish a new foundation for German-Polish relations with a friendship treaty, which he envisions concluding on the 35th anniversary of the 1991 bilateral Treaty on Good Neighbourliness on June 17, 2026.

Photo: MIA archive