World News | Germany Refuses WWII Reparations Talks, Poland Turns to UN
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Poland said on Tuesday it has been informed by Germany that it does not intend to engage in negotiations on any World War II reparations to Warsaw as Berlin considers the matter closed.
Warsaw (Poland), Jan 3 (AP) Poland said on Tuesday it has been informed by Germany that it does not intend to engage in negotiations on any World War II reparations to Warsaw as Berlin considers the matter closed.
Poland's Foreign Ministry also said it has turned to the United Nations for support in its efforts to win compensation for some USD 1.3 trillion of estimated losses suffered under Nazi Germany's 1939-45 occupation.
All along the drawn-out dispute Germany has been insisting the matter was closed by decisions taken during communist times, when Warsaw relinquished seeking reparations. Poland says that was under Moscow's pressure and not legally binding. It sent an official demand in October.
Poland's Foreign Ministry said that in an official note of December 28, the government in Berlin said that the “matter of reparations and compensations for wartime losses remains closed and the German government does not intend to open negotiations on the subject.”
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The ministry vowed to continue its efforts and said that on Tuesday the government addressed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top UN officials seeking “cooperation and support” in the efforts to win wartime reparations.
However, some officials admit that it's a long-term task.
Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek, minister for European relations, said it's the government's “moral obligation” to pursue reparations, however the time needed for any results “is counted not in months but in years, maybe even in generations.”
Poland's right-wing government is dealing with a cost-of-living and energy crisis, and faces general elections in the fall. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)