Poland wants 1.3 trillion euros in war reparations - Tusk certifies "anti-German campaign"
Created: 09/01/2022, 16:52
A Polish war veteran attends a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the national commemoration of the anniversary of World War II in Warsaw.
© Michal Dyjuk/dpa
Poland demands reparations from Germany for damage suffered in World War II.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the federal government reject the demands.
Warsaw - The point in time has historical symbolic power: On September 1, Poland called on Germany to pay reparations amounting to 1.3 trillion euros for damage suffered in World War II.
Exactly 83 years ago to the day, Nazi Germany invaded neighboring Poland and World War II began.
Warsaw wants to negotiate compensation in this estimated volume with Berlin, said Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski on Thursday.
It is a sum that the German economy can “perfectly cope with” without being “overwhelmed”.
A photo of the Polish capital Warsaw, which was destroyed in World War II (archive image).
© EPU CAF/dpa
Poland demands reparations from Germany: "Long and difficult" process
Kaczynski, who is also chairman of Poland's right-wing populist ruling party PiS, conceded that it would be a "long and difficult" process before Poland received reparations.
He presented a report on the damage his country suffered as a result of the German invasion and occupation at a press conference in Warsaw.
However, the federal government sees no legal basis for reparation claims from Poland, as it has repeatedly stated.
For them, the question of the two-plus-four treaty on the foreign policy aspects of German unity is closed.
She argues that in 1953 the communist Polish leadership declared its renunciation of German reparations.
Video: Scholz rejects Polish claims for reparations
Even before the report was presented, opposition leader and former EU Council President Donald Tusk had criticized the project.
The national-conservative governing party PiS is not concerned with reparations payments from Germany, but with a domestic political campaign, said Tusk at a performance in Pomerania.
"PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski makes no secret of the fact that he wants to increase support for the governing party with this anti-German campaign." (AFP/dpa/fmü)
