BERLIN, 12 September 2021, (TON): German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting the Polish capital on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a time when Poland faces migration pressure on its eastern border with Belarus.

The Polish government said “it would be Merkel’s last visit to Warsaw as the chancellor of Germany, and that the talks would include discussions on protecting the EU’s external borders and the coronavirus pandemic.”

The Polish government said “the meeting in Warsaw will be an opportunity to summarize current bilateral issues and note problematic issues in mutual relations.”

A meeting between Merkel and President Andrzej Duda, which was originally announced by the German government, is not taking place after all.

Merkel’s spokesman said that Polish officials told them there were “scheduling problems.” Duda’s office said Duda would instead be in the southern Polish city of Katowice for celebrations marking the anniversary of Solidarity, the anti-communist trade union. German news agency dpa noted that Duda’s office made the announcement that there would be no meeting shortly after Russia said that Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, had been completed.