Poland demands 1.3 trillion euros from Germany for World War II
Poland's strongman, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling ultra-conservative Law and Justice party.
REUTERS - KACPER PEMPEL
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Seventy-three years after the start of the Second World War, Poland announces that it will claim reparations from Germany.
A report presented by the Polish government estimates the country's losses at 1.3 trillion euros.
The German authorities retort that the subject is closed, but the conservatives in power in Warsaw do not want to stop there.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw,
Damien Simonart
Carefully staged in the Royal Palace in Warsaw,
Poland
.
In the front rows, the head of government Mateusz Morawiecki, the presidents of the Lower House and the Constitutional Court, as well as the tenors of the PiS party.
On stage, their leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski announces the cost of the repairs: 1,300 billion euros: “
It is a sum whose payment will be spread over decades and which the German economy can perfectly overcome without being crushed.
It can therefore be considered quite realistic.
»
According to the report, most of this sum compensates for the deaths of more than five million Polish citizens between 1939 and 1945. The rest relates to material, cultural and financial losses.
“
We know the road will be long and difficult.
We don't expect successes quickly
,” the Polish president said.
The German Foreign Ministry says the debate is over, as Poland waived further reparations in 1953.
As for the Polish opposition, it believes that this anti-German campaign is only intended to mobilize the PiS electorate one year before the general elections.
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Poland
Germany
Second World War