I don’t think President Andrzej Duda thinks it ended that way; this requires further diplomatic work, the head of the president’s cabinet, Paweł Szrot, told PAP when asked about Germany’s response to the MFA’s note on reparations. The German Ministry of Diplomacy wrote that the case remains closed.
READ ALSO: Germany Responded to a Diplomatic Note on World War II Reparations! ‘According to German government, case remains closed’
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to the memorandum of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated 3 October 2022 on compensation for Polish losses due to German aggression and occupation during World War II. According to the German government, the issue of reparations and compensation for war losses remains closed and the German government does not intend to enter into negotiations.
The topic of conversations
When asked by PAP how the president relates to Germany’s response, Szrot said that “first of all, the president in his diplomatic and international activities, including in his conversations with President Steinmeier, raised this topic.”
According to him, “it is not surprising that the Germans take this and no other position”.
We don’t think, and I don’t think the president thinks that way, that this is how the case ended. This requires further diplomatic work
emphasized Szrot. When asked what further steps Poland should take in this matter, he replied that “this is a question for the government”.
When asked about the statements of the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arkadiusz Mularczyk, including on the conduct of an information policy in Western Europe and the US to convince partners, societies and politicians that “Germany has not taken into account the war and its past,” the presidential minister replied that he would not review what the government was planning.
I repeat, this topic is on the political agenda of the President, who also talks to representatives of our neighboring countries from Germany
he stressed.
The answer for Germany
Referring to the German side’s response to the Polish Foreign Ministry note at a press conference on Wednesday, Mularczyk said a written response would be sent soon.
We do not recognize and reject the entire position of Germany regarding reparations to Poland, it is absolutely unjustified and wrong
Mularczyk emphasized.
It follows from this position that the German Federal Government considers the issue of reparations as closed and non-negotiable. This statement is astonishing for the Polish Foreign Ministry, for the Polish state, because the German state cannot close a case that has never been opened.
Mularczyk then said.
On Thursday, he stressed on Polish Radio 24 that, among other things, we must take an informational action in Western Europe and the US to convince our partners, societies and politicians that “Germany has not taken the war into account and has erased its past” . He also reported that a report on Poland’s losses as a result of German aggression and occupation during World War II had been sent to UN representatives “asking them to look into the matter”.
The report was presented on September 1, 2023. On October 3, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed a diplomatic note to the German side regarding reparations. In it, Poland is demanding, among other things, compensation for material and immaterial losses amounting to PLN 6 billion 220 billion 609 million and compensation for damage.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce