Poland pressures Germany to agree to pay reparations for World War II

BERLIN, 6 Dec. (DPA/EP) -

The Polish government wants to increase pressure for Germany to pay reparations for the damage caused during World War II, as indicated on Tuesday by the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister, Arkadiusz Mularczyk.

"The issue of reparations is of absolute importance for Poland. It is not just about a political issue, but about the dignity of Poland," Mularczyk said in an interview with the German news agency DPA at the beginning. of their visit officiate to Berlin.

"Germany has a choice: either sit at the negotiating table with Poland, or we will take the claim to all international forums such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union," the Polish Foreign Minister said.

As chairman of Poland's parliamentary reparations commission, Mularczyk commissioned a report on the war damage inflicted on Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. The amount of damage was estimated at 1.37 billion euros.

"This issue cannot be postponed by the German government until the next elections," he stressed. "There has to be a dialogue on this issue, otherwise it would be very bad for our neighbourhood," she added.

The Polish deputy minister will hold meetings with German officials in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday, including the head of European Affairs at the German Foreign Ministry, Anna Luhrmann.

For its part, the German government opposes the demand for reparations, pointing to the Two Plus Four Treaty of 1990 --in which Poland did not participate-- on the consequences of German unification in terms of foreign policy, which Berlin considers to be resolved the issue.

For this reason, Mularczyk has emphasized that "nothing should be swept under the rug between Germany and Poland", while accusing Germany of following a "hide, block and forget" policy since the 1950s.

"I personally know older people who were seriously injured in the war and have been physically disabled ever since. They spent their lives looking for justice and did not find it. Germans do not see these people and act as if they did not exist," he has reviewed.

"At the same time, old-age pensions are paid to former soldiers of the Wehrmacht (Nazi Armed Forces) and members of the SS. This policy of Germany has to be shown to the world," he said, before describing the situation as a "great historical injustice".