The newspaper recalled that in 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda went to Wieluń to commemorate the fallen, and “in his speech he did not fail to mention that Germany still have not paid compensation for crimes committed against Poland during the occupation.”
In turn, the Prime Minister Donald Tusk After the Polish-German intergovernmental consultations in July, he said that “there is no amount of money that would compensate for everything that happened during World War II”.
Reparations for World War II. Germans surprised by the attitude of the new government in Poland?
“Tusk's words symbolize the attitude that surprises many politicians in Berlin” – assessed “Die Welt”. When Tusk took over the government in December 2023, “many German diplomats and politicians assumed that what they considered to be tiresome reparation demands from Warsaw, will no longer be a burden on Polish-German relations“, however, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the new Prime Minister does not reject this issue at all – we read.
The PiS government demanded reparations from the German government equivalent to about 1.3 trillion eurosbased on the calculations of the parliamentary team appointed by Arkadiusz Mularczyk.
Tusk does not refer to these calculations, but he knows that most of his voters support some form of compensation from Germany. All parties in Poland are demanding reparations for World War II, this is not a unique feature of PiS – “Die Welt” emphasized, adding that the main political forces in the Sejm “agree on one thing: Germany should pay”.
Tusk's government uses different terminology. “He is taken seriously in Berlin”
The newspaper noted that representatives of the new government talk about compensation instead of reparations“The legal ambiguity of this term makes an agreement on this matter more likely, and the Polish government is somehow forcing Berlin to come to Warsaw with proposals,” the daily wrote.
The German government “can no longer evade this demand” – assessed the daily. “During the years of PiS rule (then German Chancellor) Angela Merkeland later Olaf Scholz they tried to wait this issue out. It was easy to dismiss the whole thing: PiS was not perceived as a partner anyway, and the anti-German rhetoric of this party was damaging (bilateral) relations,” DW noted.
However, “Tusk is a politician of a different caliber,” wrote “Die Welt.” “As a former chairman European Council Tusk has very good contacts. (…) He is not as loud as his predecessors, who often served, and sometimes still serve, anti-German sentiments in Poland with their demands for compensation. If only for that reason Tusk is taken seriously in Berlinthe German government wants him as a partner,” the newspaper stressed.
The joint action plan, developed during the government consultations of both countries, remains unclear on the issue of compensation – “Die Welt” noted.
Negotiations between Poland and Germany. It's about payments for war survivors
Germany and Poland are currently negotiating payments to living survivors of concentration camps and ghettos and former forced laborers. This currently concerns about 40 thousand people in Poland who are at a very advanced age“Every week without an announcement of an agreement damages Germany's reputation in Poland (…)” – the newspaper assessed.
According to unconfirmed reports, Scholz offered Tusk a total of 200 million euros in compensation for survivorsbut Tusk rejected the proposed amount as too low. As Die Welt wrote, “in addition to the establishment of a memorial site for Polish victims of the German occupation in Berlin, Warsaw also expects another symbolic gesture or even partial financing of Polish arms purchases by the German government.”
“The Polish government would welcome financial assistance. One thing is certain: with its calculations of around 1.3 trillion euros, PiS has set a benchmark, even if it was never likely that such a sum would be paid out,” concluded “Die Welt”.