Buzek and Schroeder to discuss compensation dispute in Szczecin talks

In a meeting today with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek will raise the matter of the misunderstanding concerning compensation payments for Poles forced to work as slave laborers by the Nazis during World War Two. To date, talks between the two countries on settling the dispute over why the Germans traded DM 1.3 billion at the lowest exchange rate possible, have failed to yield any positive results. The Polish recipients of the compensation are estimated to have lost zl.54 million as a result of the use of such a low exchange rate. The meeting will take place in the Northwest Polish city of Szczecin, near the border with Germany. Schroeder will also be holding talks with President Aleksander Kwasniewski. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 8) A.K.