Germany rejects Poland's $1.4 trillion demand for WWII reparations
More than a couple of months after Poland officially signed a note to Germany seeking reparations for the damages sustained in WWII, Berlin has rebuffed such demands.
The Polish foreign ministry on Tuesday said it received a response from Germany rejecting Polish claims.
"According to the German government, the issue of reparations and compensation for wartime losses remains closed and it does not intend to enter into negotiations," read the statement released.
Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk in an interview slammed Germany for its 'disrespectful' attitude.
"This answer, to sum it up, shows an absolutely disrespectful attitude towards Poland and Poles. Germany does not pursue a friendly policy towards Poland, they want to build their sphere of influence here and treat Poland as a vassal state," said Mularczyk.
Despite the outright rejection, the ministry added that it will "continue to seek compensation for German aggression and occupation in 1939-1945".
Ever since coming to power in 2015, Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has been quite vocal in demanding war reparations with a strong focus on Germany. The party argues that Germany has a 'moral duty' in the matter and that it owes compensation.
It was in September last year, the 83rd anniversary of the war that the Polish government presented an exhaustive report on the damages. It arrived at an estimated figure of $1.3 trillion as the appropriate reparation amount that the Germans owed their EU partner.
The German government continues to avoid paying the reparation saying Poland officially renounced such demands in a 1953 accord.
However, the Polish government rejects the said declaration saying it was signed under pressure from the Soviet Union by the country's then-communist leaders.
Notably, over six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews were killed by the Nazis during the war. The capital city of Warsaw was razed to the ground by the Germans, leading to the death of almost 200,000 civilians.
Germany rejects Poland'''s $1.4 trillion demand for WWII reparations - World News
