12:17 30 July 2022
Sweden will not give Poland back an important document looted during Deluge
Ann Linde, the head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry has stated that Stockholm does not intend to return the Statute of Łaski, looted during the Swedish Deluge of 1655-1660, to Poland. According to her, it is "legally captured spoils of war."
The topic of returning the Statute of Laski, which dates back to 1506 and was the first thorough codification of the laws in force in the Kingdom of Poland, was raised in mid-July by parliamentarian of the right-wing Sweden Democrats party Björn Söder.
The MP addressed an interpellation to Foreign Minister Ann Linde and asked her to "take the initiative for the return of the Statute of Łaski because of the document's importance to Poland and the way in which Poland works to secure our country." The Polish parliament was among the first to ratify the admission of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
He stressed that only two copies of the Statute of Łaski have survived in the world. One is in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, and the other specimen is kept in Sweden, in the collection of Uppsala University, "after it was looted by the Swedes in the 17th century with other priceless treasures of Polish culture."
