Poland will demand compensation of 6,200 billion zloty (1,300 billion euros) from Germany for the damage caused by the Second World War. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling party PiS, said this at a memorial meeting in Warsaw on Thursday. “The Germans have never been held accountable for their crimes against Poland,” Kaczynski said, according to a statement message of his party.
Exactly 83 years ago, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish government seizes the day to present the first part of an investigative report in which the war damage has been calculated. Among other things, figures for material damage of (797 billion zloty, 169 billion euros) are published in slick videos shared on Twitter. In 2018, Poland also hinted at a claim for damages against Germany. As now, it was then about a year before the national elections.
German-Polish relations have cooled in recent months. Poland found Germany too reticent in its support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion. In an opinion piece in NRC Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki therefore warned against Germany’s too much influence in the EU. The EU has not paid out billions from the corona recovery fund to Poland for a long time because Poland passed laws that gave the government more control over the judiciary.
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