"It is encouraging that a large part of the Polish population trusts German role in Europe" | Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images Germany no longer seen as ‘threat’ in Poland: poll Majority of Germans and Poles want to focus on ‘future,’ despite fraught history, according to survey.

A majority of Polish citizens think Germany no longer poses a military threat to Poland, and more than half think strengthening the German military would be "positive," according to the latest German-Polish barometer poll published Wednesday.

The poll — which surveyed 1,000 Polish citizens and 1,o00 Germans in April — found that some 65 percent of Poles do not see Germany as a political or economic threat to their country, with two-thirds saying they favor stronger cooperation between the two countries. More than half said they think Germany contributes to "better cooperation" in Europe.

"It is encouraging that a large part of the Polish population trusts the German role in Europe," said Nora Müller, head of international politics at the Körber Foundation, the German nonprofit organization behind the poll.

The two neighboring countries have clashed on the European stage over defense spending, refugee resettlement and Poland's judicial reforms. History also continues to cast a long shadow of diplomatic relations: Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has said it is considering asking Germany for further reparations for losses suffered in World War II, which cost the lives of close to 6 million Polish citizens, and earlier this year passed a law making it a criminal offense to blame Poland for crimes committed by Nazi Germany in Poland.

According to the survey, 76 percent of Germans think Berlin should not pay WWII reparations. Polish opinion on the issue is split: 40 percent said Warsaw should not demand compensation from Germany, while 46 said they are in favor of the government pursuing reparations.

A large majority of Germans (70 percent) said they think German-Polish relations should focus on the future, rather than the past. In Poland, 60 percent agree — a drop since the last poll in 2011, when 73 percent agreed. Some 32 percent of Polish respondents claimed Poland should focus on its past with Germany.

When it comes to common EU goals, German and Polish respondents agree that migration is one of Europe's most pressing challenges. But German citizens are more concerned with the transatlantic relationship than their Polish counterparts, who consider Russia to be the greater threat.