As of: 01/04/2023 4:59 p.m
More than 1.3 trillion euros are at stake: According to Foreign Minister Baerbock, Germany has formally rejected Polish demands for World War II compensation. The PiS government does not want to accept that.
The federal government maintains its negative position on Polish demands for reparations for the World War damage caused by Nazi Germany. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that during her visit to Warsaw in October she had “already made it clear that the issue has been legally clarified for us on the German side”. The Greens politician added that this point of view has now been included again in written communication with Warsaw.
The Polish Foreign Ministry had previously announced that the German government had, as expected, formally rejected the Polish demands in a diplomatic note received on January 3. The ministry in Warsaw announced: “According to the federal government, the question of reparations and war reparations is still closed, and the federal government does not intend to enter into negotiations on this question.”
Poland feels treated unfairly
Poland’s national conservative PiS government has been addressing World War II reparations for years. On September 1, a commission from the Polish parliament presented a report that put the amount of damage caused by World War II at more than 1.3 trillion euros. On October 3, Warsaw sent a diplomatic note to the federal government demanding this sum.
The PiS government argues that after the end of World War II, Western countries like France and the Netherlands were treated better than Poland. In the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, the four victorious powers agreed that the Soviet Union would be compensated from the Soviet occupation zone in eastern Germany and that Poland would receive a share. According to estimates, around 3,000 companies were dismantled by 1953 and additional goods from current production were removed. However, Warsaw points out that Poland had to compensate for its share by supplying coal to the Soviet Union.
The federal government, for its part, considers the reparations issue to be closed and refers to the two-plus-four treaty on the foreign policy consequences of German unity, in which Poland, however, was not a party.
“We do not recognize the German position”
After the renewed rejection from Berlin, representatives of the PiS government emphasized that the matter would not be relaxed so easily. Government spokesman Piotr Müller said with regard to the federal government’s response: “Running from one’s own crimes is not the best way in diplomatic relations.” Poland will make its position clear both at European level and at the United Nations.
Deputy Foreign Minister and Reparations Commissioner Arkadiusz Mularczyk said: “We do not recognize the German position on war reparations to Poland and reject it in its entirety.” Berlin’s point of view is unjustified and wrong, a written answer will be sent shortly.