German chancellor Angela Merkel postponed a decision to back a member of the board of a WWII museum because it may have angered Poland.

Erika Steinbach, a member of Ms Merkel's Christian Democrat party, was born in German-occupied Poland where her father served in the Luftwaffe. Ms Steinbach argues that Germany has dishonored the memory of the expellees for too long, and even tried to make Polish membership of the European Union conditional on paying compensation to them.

The League of Expellees, the body behind the museum which Ms Steinbach heads, has said it wants her to take a seat on its board.

Ms Merkel told a news conference that the endorsement of Ms Steinbach for a seat on the board of a museum which chronicles German suffering at the war's end had not come up at cabinet meetings.

“The subject did not play a role in Meseberg, because a decision can only be made once the League of Expellees has made a nomination,” Merkel told a news conference.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has threatened to veto Steinbach's appointment to avoid angering Poland, and Hans Vorlaender, a political scientist at the University of Dresden, said Ms Merkel had two choices: to convince Steinbach to give up the seat or to ensure it remains empty. (JJ)