Germany MFA rejects Polish reparations claim

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that Poland the recent efforts by the Polish government to demand World War II reparations from Germany an attempt at worsening “close and good ties” between two countries. “Any potential reparation attempts would be an attempt to worsen close and good ties that for years have developed between Germany and Poland;” Gabrial said in an interview with Der Spiegel. According to him, the German government should “stay calm” as bilateral relations “have never been better.” The issue of German reparations resurfaced a few weeks ago, when major Law and Justice (PiS) politicians, including its leader Jarosław Kaczyński, started to bring that issue up in the media. However, in recent days, the PiS government started downplaying the issue with Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski saying that discussions on reparations “may not yield the appropriate result.” He added, however, that such discussion should take place if only to “inform the German side about the enormity of destruction it has caused.” Last week, the parliamentary group of legal experts (Biuro Analiz Sejmowych) issued a non-binding opinion which backs Polish government claim that Warsaw has the right to seek reparations from Germany for its actions in the country during World War II as the decision by Poland’s communist authorities in the 1950s to relinquish all claims against Germany for damages caused by its invasion and occupation of much of Poland was unconstitutional and invalid.