WARSAW, Poland – Poland said on Tuesday it had been informed by Germany that it did not intend to start negotiations on World War II reparations for Warsaw as Berlin considered the matter closed.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry also said it had turned to the United Nations for support in its efforts to secure compensation for estimated about $1.3 trillion in losses suffered under Nazi Germany’s 1939 occupation suffered until 1945.
During the protracted dispute, Germany has insisted the matter was settled by decisions taken in communist times, when Warsaw gave up demanding reparations. Poland says it was under pressure from Moscow and not legally binding. In October, she sent out an official request.
Poland’s leaders have hinted that there is a possibility of negotiations.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said that the government in Berlin said in an official note dated December 28 that “the issue of reparations and compensation for war losses remains closed and the federal government does not intend to start negotiations on this issue.”
The ministry vowed to continue its efforts more broadly and said the government on Tuesday contacted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other senior UN officials to solicit “cooperation and support” in efforts to seek redress during the war .
There was no immediate statement from the UN
However, some officials in Poland admit it is a long-term task.
European Relations Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said it was the government’s “moral obligation” to make amends, but the time it would take for any results to come “is not measured in months, but in years, maybe even in counting generations”.
In its second term, Poland’s right-wing government is struggling with a cost of living and energy crises as well as high social spending and is facing parliamentary elections in the autumn.