Vebetering relatie Polen en Duitsland (en)

With the political ice between Poland and the rest of the European Union melting, the country's prime minister, Donald Tusk, has indicated he is ready to discuss the controversial Baltic gas pipeline - a project which set Warsaw and Berlin on a collision course in the past.

Speaking during his first official visit to Berlin on Tuesday (11 December), Mr Tusk said "I do not exclude that we will be able to run three-way talks about this project".

"I obviously think about Russia in that context and chancellor Merkel expressed her readiness to join these talks", he added of discussions, which could take place as early as the end of January.

The natural gas pipeline - negotiated by former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - is to be built beneath the Baltic Sea and connect Russia with Germany, while bypassing the traditional transit countries such as the Baltic states and Poland.

While Moscow wants to reduce its dependence on the energy transit countries, Warsaw fears it could be cut off from Russian gas supplies.

According to German officials cited by the Financial Times, Berlin has offered to divert gas to Poland from the German pipeline in times of crisis.

Speaking more generally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said relations between the two countries were "moving in the right direction", the Financial Times reports.

"Germany has a big interest in having good relations with our neighbour and EU partner Poland (...) We want to solve the problems we have", she added.

Mr Tusk himself spoke in a markedly different tone when compared to his predecessor Jaroslav Kaczynski, who had earned himself the reputation of a trouble-maker on European issues.