The Polish Deputy Foreign Minister on Wednesday (January 4th) firmly rejected the German refusal to negotiate compensation for the damage suffered by Poland during the Second World War.
“
We do not recognize this German position, we reject it in its entirety as absolutely unfounded and wrong
,” Arkadiusz Mularczyk said.
On Tuesday, Warsaw announced that Berlin has formally rejected its request to discuss claims that the Polish government values at one thousand three hundred billion euros.
"
According to the German government, the case of reparations and compensation for war damage remains closed and the German government does not intend to open negotiations on this matter
," the ministry said in a statement. press release issued Tuesday by Warsaw, immediately after receiving an official response from Berlin.
“No will to repair the wrongs and the losses”
On Wednesday, Arkadiusz Mularczyk called the response “
amazing
” given that, in his view, “
the German state cannot close a question that has never been opened.
He pointed out that to this day, "
we see no willingness or desire to repair the wrongs and losses (of the war)
" by Germany.
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Polish diplomacy took the case to the UN on Tuesday, asking its senior representatives for their "
cooperation and support so that Poland can receive compensation for the damage caused by German aggression and occupation in the years 1939- 1945
,” according to another official statement released on Tuesday.
Germany considers that Poland waived war reparations in 1953 and confirmed this waiver on several occasions.
Berlin has raised the same arguments against claims for reparations raised in the past by Greece and Italy.
During her visit to Warsaw on October 4, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already indicated that, "
from the point of view of the federal government, the question of reparations was closed
", while assuring that her country assumed "
its historic responsibility, without 'if' or 'but'
”.
Polish nationalist conservatives in power dispute the validity of this 1953 agreement, claiming that Warsaw acted at the time under pressure from the Soviet Union.