Russia must pay compensation for crimes committed by its troops in Ukraine. “This demand, which has not yet been legally refined but has received approval from Western politicians, has an additional dimension for the Polish government: it is trying to link the issue of Ukrainian reparations with its own demand that Germany ultimately pay reparations for the damage done. crimes committed by National Socialists in Poland during World War II,” said NZZ.

“This will be an important signal for the aggressors at this time,” added NZZ quoting the Deputy Head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arkadiusz Mularczyk. According to Mularczyk, such a German-Polish agreement could become a model for a Russian-Ukrainian solution.

As NZZ reminds us, Poland has been pressuring Germany for at least 20 years to pay reparations for World War II crimes. “Sometimes these demands are violent, sometimes they are diplomatic and tactful. For PiS, this topic is high on the agenda,” said NZZ, recalling that in May, Minister Mularczyk sent a letter to all 736 members of the German Bundestag, in which he referred to the damage caused by the National Socialists in Poland.

“Mularczyk argued that he wanted to use the letter to spark discussion,” NZZ added, noting that so far, all the Polish minister’s efforts had been “in vain” as Germany had not addressed the topic.

“The issue of reparations is legally regulated,” SPD lawmaker Dietmar Nietan, who is the federal government’s coordinator for cross-border cooperation between Germany and Poland, answered Deputy Minister Mularczyk. For the German side, the key document in this regard was a statement by Polish Prime Minister Bolesław Bierut in 1953, in which he announced that from 1 January 1954, Poland would waive German demands for compensation.

Bierut’s statement was not considered official, only published in the media, NZZ stressed. However, Germany considers the relief to be binding because it has been announced to the public. According to the Polish government, the issue of reparations remained open because the country was at that time a satellite of the Soviet Union and did not take independent decisions.

“This dispute is legal in nature. Therefore, it is best to clarify this issue in an international court,” commented Mateusz Piątkowski, international law expert from the University of Łódź, in NZZ. However, as NZZ noted, “there is no indication that Germany will agree to the procedure.”

“Nietan supports the thesis that (Jarosław) Kaczyński pushed the issue of reparations as elections approached in Poland and anti-German rhetoric reached parts of society. However, for Mateusz Piątkowski, this view is too one-sided. The issue of compensation is not only of great importance to PiS voters, but is also of general concern to society, as “almost every Pole lost relatives or property as a result of the war,” NZZ added.

The Polish government estimates the losses suffered by Poland at PLN 6.2 trillion and “expects a large amount of money from Germany as compensation.” As noted by NZZ, Arkadiusz Mularczyk did not indicate a specific figure and stressed that Poland’s goal was to “start a long-term dialogue with Germany on reparations.” “This is necessary because this issue is dividing Europe. Russia is closely watching how Germany and Poland handle this issue,” NZZ quoted Mularczyk as saying. (PAP)

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