After visiting Berlin and meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, gave interviews to other German media and once again spoke about Poland's efforts for reparations. In an interview with the weekly “Der Spiegel” he allowed himself to make a small “joke”, but when he got to the serious part of his statement, he once again diluted the issue, reducing it to “a package that will reassure our public opinion and show that Germany is ready to face this topic” – for example, projects to rebuild the Saxon Castle or finance health services for war survivors.

For Donald Tusk's government, reparations from Germany are a rather difficult topic – there is no doubt about that. Despite this, the new head of Polish diplomacy, Radosław Sikorski, announced before his visit to Berlin that he would discuss with his counterpart – Minister Annalena Baerbock – the issue of Germany making amends for the crimes of its ancestors during World War II. As before, in interviews for “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” and “Die Welt”, this time in an interview with the weekly “Der Spiegel” he proposed what such compensation might look like.

Of course, what Germany did to Poland during World War II was horrific and cruel. I told Minister Baerbock that it would be good if Germany found a creative way to express regret and do something good for the people living in this time (occupation – ed.). Therefore, this ethical reflection must also be expressed in the form of financial compensation

— he said in an interview with German media last week.

The day before, in a joint conference with Baerbock, Sikorski stated:

I will (…) ask the minister to ask the German government he creatively thought about how to find a form of compensation for the war losses or compensation

— in other words: it is the Germans who must decide whether and how they will compensate us for the war crimes, the deaths of more than 6 million Poles, the looting of works of art and valuables, and the de facto destruction of Polish cities causing destruction. hampering the development of our country.

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“We'll even give you a discount”

Also in an interview for “Der Spiegel” published yesterday, Sikorski was asked about Poland's efforts for reparations. Will Poland hand over EUR 1.3 trillion – because that is how much the losses our country suffered from Nazi Germany's aggression were estimated by the team of experts who prepared the report presented on 1 September 2022?

If Berlin wants to make a transfer, I will be happy to do it. We will even give a discount if the money is received by the end of the year

– joked the head of Polish diplomacy.

But seriously: in times of war and crisis, money is a difficult topic. We ask the German government to prepare a package that can reassure our public opinion and show that Germany is ready to tackle this problem

– he said in an interview for a German weekly.

Similar to his previous statement, Radosław Sikorski assessed that “this could be a project to rebuild the Saxon Palace or finance medical care for people who survived the war, as well as investments in the defense capabilities of both countries to counter Putin.” repeated, it sounds very interesting. Especially if we remember the blasphemy in Berlin in 2022 regarding the so-called “Ringtausch” (circular exchange). As part of this German proposal, Central and Eastern European countries would transfer their Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine in exchange for the latest German equipment. We might be a little afraid of this “German investment in defense capabilities.”

Despite further clouding the topic of reparations, Sikorski admits that our western neighbors' memories of World War II are “poor.”

Germans have bad memories. They remember the Holocaust, the blockade of Leningrad and Stalingrad. However, they forgot what they did to the Polish civilian population

– said the politician, adding that in terms of compensation for German crimes, a “Visible Sign” must first be created – a documentation center and a dialogue center, which would also become a monument and place of recognition of Poland's suffering. Like the Polish-German DPR, which – as the former deputy head of Polish diplomacy Arkadiusz Mularczyk has repeatedly pointed out (including in an interview with our website) – was formed without the participation of the Polish authorities?

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Sikorski on “demonizing Germany”

Minister Sikorski was also pleased with the “important change” in Germany's attitude towards Russia.

Of course, we have to ask how quickly Germany will spend these 100 billion (euro) and when the Bundeswehr will rearm. But basically, Poland and Germany are heading in the same direction, namely strengthening their ability to defend themselves from threats

– he says.

According to Der Spiegel interlocutors, our western neighbors are showing less and less “understanding of Putin and his policies”, and Polish society is paying attention to the change in Germany's attitude towards Russia that has been occurring for two years. Indeed, this is a long time, especially if we take into account the honor given to Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the “faces” of pro-Putin policy in Germany, who stepped down after two decades,.

Sikorski assured that “there will be no more anti-German taunts from the government.”

The demonization of democratic Germany is over. We do not want any artificial hostility towards our neighbors. Only PiS needs them for its propaganda

– said the politician.

Is this the country that has been meddling in Polish politics for the past eight years, whose ambassador successively attacked the ruling right-wing group in 2015-2023, who tried to make all of Europe dependent on Russian gas and did business with Russia all this time? ? heads of countries neighboring the Putin regime, and in recent years, he has tried to claim the right, for example, to decide whether Poland can build a nuclear power plant or not; who, in the first months of Russia's massive aggression against Ukraine, “helped” the country repel the savage attacks of Putin's orcs in such a way that, however, in order not to be too unpleasant for Russia, it is necessary to “hate”? No, I think it's enough to state these few simple facts.

aja/DW.com