"It's about dignity": Poland is now threatening Germany in the trillion dispute with the UN, EU and Council of Europe

Created: 2022-12-07 05:17

By: Luke Rogalla

Poland is demanding reparations payments from Germany at a dizzying height - and is now increasing the pressure.

Warsaw – 1.3 trillion euros, more than twice the German budget: this is how much money the Polish government is demanding from Germany.

It is about reparations for the crimes committed by Nazi Germany in World War II, which began with the invasion of Poland.

Arkadiusz Mularczyk of the national-conservative governing party PiS worked out the basis for this demand in September.

Mularczyk is now Poland's deputy foreign minister and official reparations commissioner.

As chairman of a parliamentary commission, he had a report prepared that addressed the damage caused by Nazi Germany in Poland and put the amount of damage at 1.3 trillion euros.

The question of reparations is "of fundamental importance for Poland," Mularczyk said at the start of his two-day trip to Berlin.

It's not a political question, "it's about the dignity of Poland".

"This thing cannot be sat out by the federal government until the next election," he added.

"There has to be a dialogue on this issue, otherwise it would be very bad for our neighborhood."

Poland demands reparations from Germany: Report puts World War damage at 1.3 trillion euros

The federal government considers the issue of reparations to be legally and politically closed and invokes the Two Plus Four Agreement on the foreign policy consequences of German unity.

However, Poland was not involved in this.

Mularczyk accuses Germany of pursuing a policy of "concealment, statute of limitations and forgetting" since the 1950s.

He emphasizes: "There should be no things between Germany and Poland that are swept under the carpet."

Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister and Commissioner for Reparations, makes demands on Germany.

© Christoph Soeder/dpa

“I personally know elderly people who were seriously injured in the war and have been disabled ever since.

They have searched for justice all their lives and have not found it.

The Germans don't see these people and act as if these people don't exist," said the Deputy Foreign Minister.

“At the same time, old-age pensions are paid to former Wehrmacht soldiers and members of the SS.

This policy of Germany must be shown to the world.” Mularczyk speaks of a “great historical injustice”. 

International conference on reparations claims planned

Greece is also demanding reparations from Germany amounting to several hundred billion euros.

Poland wants to give the topic an international stage.

In addition to bilateral talks, an international conference on the subject should take place.

The Polish government has only just begun its activities.

"Now Germany has a choice: either it sits down at the negotiating table with Poland, or we will raise the issue in all international forums - in the UN, in the Council of Europe and in the European Union," said Mularczyk.

In an official note to 51 EU, NATO and Council of Europe states two weeks ago, Poland appealed for understanding for the reparations demands.

During his inaugural visit to Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mularczyk intends to hold talks with, among others, the Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, Anna Lührmann.

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