06 September, 2017
Poland and Germany should hold "serious talks" about World War II reparations, the Polish foreign minister said Monday, after his colleague said the figure could be as high as one trillion dollars. "We should regroup with the Germans on serious conversation and work together to think about how to solve the problem".
"How can we deal with the fact that Germany's 1939 attack (on Poland) and unresolved post-war issues still cast a shadow on Polish-German relations?" he said.
Mr Waszczykowski did not say when Poland would make public its formal position on repatriations. From a moral point of view there is no doubt that Poland should receive compensation, the Minister said.
Before Minister of internal Affairs of the country Mariusz Blashak estimate the financial damage caused to the country during the Second world war, a trillion dollars US (840 000 000 000 euros converted).
The current government's push for reparations comes as tensions continue to mount between the European Union and Warsaw over media and judicial reforms by the Law and Justice government, which critics say erode democratic standards and the rule of law.
Around six million Polish citizens, including about three million Jews, were killed during the war and much of Warsaw was destroyed. The capital Warsaw was virtually razed to the ground.
Meanwhile, a majority of Poles (51 percent) oppose such claims against Germany, according to an August survey by the independent Ibris pollsters.
However, those against the government say talk of reparations is an attempt to distract from its right-wing agenda.
Mrs Merkel added her voice to criticism from Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, which is threatening sanctions.
At the heart of the dispute is a PiS reform of the judiciary in Poland which puts the courts and judges under tighter government control.
