German, Polish foreign ministers hand out school certificates
Berlin- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski handed out school-leaving certificates at the German town of Loecknitz on the border with Poland Saturday.
The school, which conducts classes in both languages, has existed since 1995 and currently has 421 pupils.
"The River Oder marking the German-Polish border no longer has a dividing function," Steinmeier said after talking to the pupils, as well as the residents from both communities.
A new history textbook on German-Polish history is currently being prepared for pupils on both sides of the border.
"Historical questions should, however, not dominate life on both sides," Sikorski said.
Some 200 Poles live in the town of 3,200 inhabitants not far from the Polish city of Szceczin.
In recent years there have been instances of anti-Polish xenophobia with cars damaged and Poles targeted. (dpa)