Guarded support for Gerhard Schroeder's stance on compensation claims

A majority of Polish politicians were satisfied by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's declaration not to support compensation claims by Germans expelled from Poland after WWII. However, some politicians would have liked to see a gesture of the kind made by Willy Brandt who knelt in front of the Ghetto Heroes Monument when he visited the capital 34 years ago. On the other hand chairman of the Expelled Association Erika Steinbach criticized Shroeder for not taking into account the feelings of his nation. Donald Tusk from the Civic Platform (PO) appreciated the historical statement made by the German Chancellor, but he also hoped that the German government would take the burden of paying off claims made by the Expelled Association if the courts decided that they were entitled to some kind of compensation. Jerzy Jaskiernia from SLD believes the declarations will allow for calmer Polish-German relations. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A4) M.M.