Per editor: Zhang Jinhe
According to the overseas network quoted by the Polish News Agency on the 10th, Polish officials called on the United States to put pressure on Germany on the same day, demanding that Germany pay 1.3 trillion euros (about 9.5 trillion yuan) in reparations for Poland, which suffered war losses during World War II.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Murachik said at a press conference on the 10th that requesting the United States to intervene is the next step in Poland's "internationalization" of war claims to Germany. He hoped that the U.S. congressional committee and members of Congress would assist the Polish government on "Poland's claim for compensation for the effects of World War II." Earlier, Poland had sent requests to major international bodies such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe and UNESCO for assistance in resolving this issue.
Poland repeatedly claimed 9.5 trillion yuan in World War II compensation from Germany
On September 1, 2022, the 83rd anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, Poland published a report detailing the losses it suffered as a result of the German invasion. According to the report, Germany should pay Poland a huge war reparations of 6.2 trillion zlotys. The German federal government responded on the same day that the issue was closed because Poland had abandoned its claim in 1953.
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki Image source: Visual China - VCG111398986402
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said the report was "an important step in regaining reparations from Germany" and that "without truth and reparations" there can be no real reconciliation between Poland and Germany.
On September 8, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said he was "confident" that Germany would pay reparations to Poland for the damage it caused to Poland during World War II, although "not soon."
Morawiecki said on the 8th that Poland did not find a government resolution on abandoning claims against Germany, "This so-called government resolution allegedly issued in August 1953 is extremely important, but it is not found in our archives."
According to the Polish constitution adopted in 1952, the Council of Ministers at that time "was not empowered to adopt such a resolution... It is said that the meeting of the Council of Ministers that adopted the resolution never took place", and that no such document was issued by the Council of State or the Chamber of Deputies, which had the power to adopt the resolution, thus providing further evidence that Poland did not renounce its claim.
Morawiecki added that the only document mentioning Poland's renunciation of its claim against Germany was an article published in the People's Tribune on August 24, 1953, but this could not be used as a legal basis, and none of the legal documents signed by the two countries between 1970 and 1990 dealt with World War II reparations.
On 3 October, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to the German Foreign Ministry, formally offering compensation to Germany for the losses of World War II with a view to "resolving this issue permanently, comprehensively and thoroughly at the legal and material levels."
On October 4, Polish Foreign Minister Rau met with German Foreign Minister Baerbock, who was visiting Warsaw. The foreign ministers of the two countries expressed their respective positions on Poland's claim to Germany for World War II losses at a press conference after the meeting.
Raoul said that the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939 and the subsequent occupation of Poland caused trauma to Polish society, including the negative impact on social capital, economic potential and national heritage, which has not fully healed to this day, which limits the possibility of further development and deepening of Polish-German relations, and it is time to face this problem.
Raou said at the press conference on the same day that he is very much looking forward to good cooperation with the German federal government in this regard, which will also become a model for dealing with the illegal use of force in international relations.
In this regard, Baerbock said that Germany is always aware of its historical responsibility, but the attitude of the German federal government on this matter is clear, and she reiterated Germany's position at the press conference that the issue of World War II reparations is over.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Mulachik said in an interview with Polish public radio that Poland has requested the United Nations to help obtain war reparations from Germany, according to an overseas network quoted by Polish Television (TVP) on January 3, 2023.
Asked about war reparations, Murachik said the Polish government had taken a number of measures and that "we have sent more than 50 notices to EU countries, the European Commission and NATO to make this issue known." "We have also sent a statement to the United Nations asking to intervene in this issue," a request that implies the creation of a "platform for dialogue with Germany."
According to CCTV News on January 4, 2023, local time on January 3, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that Germany made an official response to Poland's previously issued World War II claim note, and Germany reiterated that the war reparations matter has ended.
Deflect popular discontent?
Poland is asking for about $1.32 trillion in compensation, while according to the World Bank, Germany's GDP in 2021 was $4.26 trillion, and Poland is asking for about 31% of Germany's GDP. It is conceivable that Germany would categorically not agree to this claim for compensation, not to mention the weak legal basis of the Polish government's claim. Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki himself admitted that despite the firm belief that Germany needed to compensate Poland, the process "will not be fast."
With little hope of compensation, why did the Polish government make a big appeal and choose to "attack" at this point in September last year? Yang Bowen pointed out to the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the Polish government's decision-making is closely related to the difficulties faced by the ruling party at home and abroad.
Internationally, Poland has always been dissatisfied with Germany's dominance of the EU, and the EU's seizure of coronavirus recovery funds because of Polish judicial reform has further fueled Poland's dissatisfaction. In Yang Bowen's view, Poland's use of World War II reparations is one to put pressure on Germany and the EU to compete for more initiative in EU negotiations, and on the other hand, to weaken Germany's moral advantage in leading the EU with values, and the huge amount of compensation is to remind the international community how serious the damage caused by Germany was that year.
Image source: Visual China - VCG111408295111
Recently, the Law and Justice Party has frequently and sharply criticized Germany in addition to the issue of World War II reparations.
According to a report on January 3 on the website of the German weekly Der Spiegel, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Muralchik said that Germany wants to expand its sphere of influence in Poland and "treat Poland like a vassal state." According to the Associated Press, Law and Justice Party Chairman Kaczynski recently said that Germany intends to weaken the sovereignty of EU countries, dominate Europe, and use peaceful means to achieve "the goals that once wanted to be achieved by military means."
Domestically, the Polish government's "hype" of World War II reparations is also related to the upcoming parliamentary elections in the fall of 2023. Yang Bowen said that although the Law and Justice Party still maintains its lead, the opposition Citizens' Forum is catching up and the support gap is narrowing, and the Law and Justice Party feels a lot of urgency.
"Especially after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland is facing energy shortages, inflation and economic slowdown, and the Polish government's satisfaction has been seriously frustrated, so it hopes to divert attention from economic issues with the issue of claims to Germany," Yang said.
He also pointed out that Germany had a close relationship with Russia's energy trade, had forced the Nord Stream-2 pipeline plan, and was slow to assist Ukraine after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the Polish people were dissatisfied with this. Through its anti-German rhetoric, the ruling party can shift popular grievances over economic pressure to Germany, while weakening support by portraying the pro-European citizens' forum as "collusion with Germany."
Although Poland frequently created momentum on the issue of World War II reparations, Poland and Germany are both members of the European Union and NATO, Poland's rapid economic development after joining the EU, Germany is already Poland's largest trading partner, and in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland, which has a "feud" with Russia, needs NATO support. Poland and Germany share deep common interests in economic and security issues.
Yang Bowen believes that the German side is actually well aware of the reasons behind the Law and Justice Party's hype on the issue of World War II reparations, and did not follow Poland to hype up the issue. He believes that Germany has a long-term view and hopes to observe the position of the Polish government after the autumn elections.
Daily economic news is synthesized from CCTV news, overseas network, reference news, daily economic news (Reporter: Li Menglin)
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