German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul sought to ease tensions with Prague on Friday, after a planned gathering in the Czech Republic of ethnic Germans who were expelled from former Czechoslovakia after World War II drew criticism.
“I regret that the discussion has become so difficult,” the minister told journalists on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in the Swedish city of Helsingborg.
He said Berlin needs to work with the newly appointed Czech government to “ease tensions once again and ensure that the issues on the table can be discussed openly with one another.”
The Sudeten German Association is holding its traditional Pentecost gathering in the Czech Republic for the first time. Among those expected at the main rally on Sunday is Markus Söder, the influential conservative premier of the German state of Bavaria. The Czech lower house recently opposed the meeting.
Around 3 million Sudeten Germans were expelled from former Czechoslovakia after World War II and the Nazi occupation. Most resettled in Germany, while a smaller number moved to Austria. Bavaria formally assumed patronage of the ethnic group in 1954.
Wadephul said the protests in the Czech Republic showed that “even so long after these events, there is still a great deal of reconciliation work to be done on both sides.”
He added that Sudeten Germans had also experienced “injuries” and issues that they wished to address and express.
“I hope that this will once again be possible and that we can engage in positive dialogue with one another,” he said.