It's springtime in Europe and something like love is in the air again for an unlikely pair. Germany and Poland have finally patched things up again.

歐洲正值春季，連最不麻吉的一對也彼此放電，德國與波蘭終於盡釋前嫌重修舊好。

Last month Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, traveled to Poland for a series of meetings with Polish officials, includ-ing Prime Minister Donald Tusk. But before kicking off the official part of his schedule, Mr. Steinmeier and his wife went to the country home of his Polish counterpart, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, joining Mr. Sikorski and his wife for a friendly Sunday dinner.

今年四月德國外長史坦麥爾前往波蘭與當地官方進行一系列訪問，包括波蘭總理圖斯克。但在展開正式訪問前，史坦麥爾與夫人先去了對手波蘭外長席考斯基在鄉下的家，並與席考斯基夫婦吃了頓友好的星期天晚餐。

It was a simple gesture, but surpris-ing after the past two years, when the relationship between the two coun-tries and their leaders could be de-scribed as frosty at best and at worst downright antagonistic. Journalists and experts in both countries picked up on the private meal as further evi-dence of the thaw that began with the change of government in Poland last fall, and has continued ever since.

這看似小事一樁，以過去兩年兩國的關係，其實頗令人意外；因為雙方領導人的關係充其量只能以冷漠形容，最壞就是彼此全面敵視。兩國新聞界與專家視此利用私下共進晚餐修好之舉，為去年秋天波蘭政權交替後，雙方關係改善並持續友好的另一佐證。

The two countries have woken up to the fact that they are stronger — politically and economically — working in concert than when they are at odds.

兩國終於醒悟並看清事實，彼此合作比敵對更能使雙方在政治上與經濟上壯大。

Poland and Germany have a diffi-cult shared history, deeply intertwined through armed conflict and a regularly shifting border until the end of World War II. After the fall of Communism, the newly reunified Germany staunchly supported Poland's entry into institutions like the European Union and NATO, but frictions re-mained.

波蘭與德國有段慘痛的歷史共業，再加上延續至二次世界大戰結束才終止的軍事衝突與不停的邊界變更，使得關係更加錯綜複雜。共黨垮台後，新統一的德國堅定支持波蘭加入如歐盟與北大西洋公約等國際組織，但摩擦依然不斷。

But the straining of the relationship was hardly the one-sided game that it may have appeared, and — especially from a Polish perspective — started far earlier. Recent troubles dated back to disagreements over Poland's sup-port for the United States in Iraq, and especially former Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's cultivation of a special re-lationship with Russia. When Berlin and St. Petersburg or Moscow get too close, Warsaw has been threatened.

但關係搞得緊張兮兮，看來不能只怪一方，波蘭人更是這麼認為，在此之前關係早已緊繃。最近幾次麻煩可追溯至波蘭支持美國對伊拉克的行動，與德國不同調，更何況前總理施洛德一心想與俄羅斯建立特別的關係。當柏林與聖彼得堡走太近時，華沙立感威脅。

The greatest achievement may have been the easing of tensions reached over one of the most inflammatory issues troubling the relationship, a proposed memorial to the Germans expelled from other countries after World War II. More than 12 million Germans were forced out of their homes in Central and Eastern Europe after the war ended, but commemo-rating their suffering raises hackles in Poland, both for appearing to equate German suffering with that of the Polish and for potentially encouraging renewed claims for restitution

改善德波緊張關係最成功的是在困擾雙邊關係的諸多事件中，最挑釁的一件獲得緩解，那就是提議替二戰後遭到驅逐的德國人建紀念碑。戰後有超過1千200萬德國人被從中歐與東歐的家園逐出，但紀念這些人的受難惹火波蘭人，因為這不啻把德國人的受難與波蘭人的受苦等同視之，也等於潛在鼓勵重新提出賠償要求。

In February, Germany's culture minister, Bernd Neumann, went to Warsaw to meet with Polish officials and explain the latest German pro-posal for a permanent exhibition on the subject, under the guidance of the respected German Historical Museum rather than the lobbying group, the Federation of Expellees.

今年二月，德國文化部長紐曼前往華沙會晤波蘭官方，解釋最新的永久展示方案，是由地位崇高的德國歷史博物館主導，而非由「受逐者聯盟」此遊說團體鼓吹。

Polish endorsement of the project would have been all but unthinkable, but the government did not oppose it and said it would "not exclude the participation of Polish historians." It was tersely worded, but a significant breakthrough.

想要波蘭人支持本案，門兒都沒有，但波蘭政府並未表示反對，同時說：「不會阻波蘭歷史學家參與其事。」話說得扼要但有突破性的意義。

Warsaw's approach reflects a new pragmatism, an interest in brass tacks and hard cash, rather than picking fights over symbols. The new prime minister, Mr. Tusk, comes from the center-right, pro-business party, Civic Platform, which promised dur-ing the campaign to emphasize eco-nomic growth and streamline the pri-vate sector.

華沙的回應展現新的務實態度，強調實事求是與真正利益，而不炒作象徵意義。新上任的總理圖斯克來自中間偏右且重商的「公民綱領」政黨，該黨在競選時承諾，加強經濟成長並提高私營企業效率。

Those are areas where the Euro-pean Union and Germany, the u-nion's most powerful member as well as Poland's largest trading partner, are crucial to Poland's success. According to Polish government figures, France and Germany led the way last year in foreign direct investment in the country. Poland will have received some $100 billion worth of European Union funds from 2007 to 2013.

在這幾個領域上，波蘭成功與否取決於歐盟與德國，而德國是歐盟最強大的會員國同時也是波蘭最大貿易夥伴。根據波蘭政府的官方數字，去年對波蘭的外國直接投資，法國與德國遙遙領先其他國家。波蘭從2007年到2013年可以從歐盟獲得約一千億美元補助。

Substantive disagreements between the countries remain, as was on dis-play at the NATO conference in Bucharest in April, when Poland joined the United States in supporting membership in the alliance for Ukraine, while German officials cau-tioned against provoking Russia. Poland continues to look first to the United States when it comes to secu-rity matters. And Polish leaders re-main concerned over the German a-greement to build a gas pipeline with Russia under the Baltic Sea that would bypass Poland.

兩國間的重大歧見依舊存在，由北約四月於羅馬尼亞首都布加勒斯特舉行的會議可見一斑，波蘭呼應美國，支持讓烏克蘭成為會員國，德國官員則提出小心激怒俄羅斯的警告。波蘭的安全問題持續以美國馬首是瞻，波蘭領袖依舊擔心，德俄合力在波羅的海下建造油管會跳過波蘭。

But Poles appear to have realized that the best way to effect change is by working with its powerful neighbor.

但波蘭看來已經明白，最佳的變革之途是和最強大的鄰國合作。

《詞解》
antagonistic 敵對的
scrape the bottom 意指壞到谷底
innuendo 含沙射影
lashed out 猛烈抨擊
inflammatory issues 燙手山芋