To underscore the importance of German-Polish relations, newly-elected Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (left) made a one-day visit to Warsaw in November 1998. There, he met with Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (right), among others. Schröder rejected Polish demands for additional financial aid for Polish victims of the Second World War, making reference to past payments. At the same time, however, back in Germany, the Chancellor had also rejected demands made by the Federation of Expellees [Bund der Vertriebenen, BdV], which wanted to make Poland’s membership in the EU contingent upon its payment of reparations to Germans who were expelled from territory ceded to Poland after the war.