„Germany has simply not changed in its relationship with the Poles. And Donald Tusk fits into the picture. This is both extremely harmful and shameful. And at the same time it is also an offense from the point of view of the Polish Criminal Code”

— PiS President Jaroslaw Kaczynski said at a joint press conference with MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk.

At the beginning, Law and Justice Party spokesman Rafal Bochenek recalled Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s statement at a press conference after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin:

In a formal, legal, international sense, the issue of reparations was closed many years ago.

Is it true?

This is a statement that strikes at the elementary interests of Poland. It concerns both the reparations themselves, for that is the proper term, and our status. Not only political, but also, one could say, cultural

— assessed Law and Justice Party President Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

„Chancellor Merkel passed it over in silence”.

Not so long ago, Germany was paying reparations to the French for World War I. They paid huge reparations to Israel. At the moment they are entering into talks or even paying reparations to some African countries, and towards the Poles they are taking an attitude that cannot be described otherwise than as a racist, extremely racist attitude

— he stressed.

I spoke at informal meetings with Mrs. Merkel and brought it to her attention. She passed it over in silence

— added the Law and Justice leader.

Germany has simply not changed in its relationship with the Poles. And Donald Tusk fits into the picture. This is both extremely harmful and shameful. And at the same time it is also an offense from the point of view of the Polish Criminal Code

— assessed the former deputy prime minister.

This is an offense under Article 127 of the CC, which Prime Minister Tusk has been committing for a long time - it’s about changing the state system by violence. And this is another one in terms of causing damage to relations with other countries. I would like to make it sound very strong

— stressed Jaroslaw Kaczynski, giving the floor to MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk, who as secretary of state at the Foreign Ministry, but also earlier as a parliamentarian, dealt with the issue of reparations from Germany.

Mularczyk: Tusk is deceiving Polish society, misleading it

The phrases used by Prime Minister Donald Tusk during his first visit to Berlin and meeting with Chancellor Scholz must come as a shock. This is the Prime Minister’s first visit to Berlin in this term, and he immediately undermines, and weakens the status of our country. Before proceeding formally to any talks, he says that the matter is closed from the legal and international point of view, which is clearly untrue

— said the Law and Justice MP.

In 2002, the Civic Platform, but also the entire Parliament, voted in favour of a resolution in which deputies call on Germany to accept economic, financial, political, legal responsibility for the consequences of World War II

— Mularczyk recalled.

The resolution followed the publication of a report on September 1 at the Royal Castle, and subsequently gave rise to a diplomatic note to the German government. In that note, the Polish state demanded that the German government pay PLN 6 trillion 220 billion in reparations for the property and demographic losses suffered by Poland as a result of World War II

— he added.

The note also included a request to return looted cultural goods, works of art, and property that Germany had stolen from the Polish minority. There are a number of points mentioned in the note that should be the basis for talks, negotiations, and ultimately conclude with a Polish-German treaty that would regulate the consequences regarding the payment of war reparations to Poland

— emphasized the politician.

The German government has stated in an absolutely brazen manner that the matter is closed and that it does not intend to enter into any talks. This formed the basis for the adoption of a resolution of the Council of Ministers on April 18 of last year, from which it is clear that the Polish government has an unequivocal position: that the issue of reparations has never been the subject of any international Polish-German agreement. Poland has never resigned from these war benefits, and the Polish government is requesting that these issues be regulated in the form of an agreement, an international treaty

• -he said.

The legal status is clear, the political status is clear. The Polish government, the Parliament, the public, demands that this matter be regulated. We can clearly observe that such actions of Donald Tusk, who, despite promises before the elections, voting in parliament by the Platform, are misleading; he is deceiving Polish society

— he added.

He claims, which is obviously untrue, that the case is closed. This is an utter betrayal of our country’s interests. Surrendering any negotiations at the very beginning. Weakening the position of our country. Because today, from this perspective, Poland is becoming a petitioner, despite the fact that it has a full moral, legal, political mandate for talks and the payment of war reparations to be made

— Mularczyk pointed out.

The German proposals

What the Germans are proposing and have already offered in various ways to our formation is just a ridicule. They are suggesting the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace, some small benefits for the surviving victims, and this is a promille of what the report implies

— emphasized the former secretary of state at the Foreign Ministry.

Our report values Poland’s losses at 6 trillion 220 billion zlotys. That’s a dozen CPK ports, nuclear power plants, hundreds of thousands of apartments. These are the funds that Germany should be paying to Poland

— he added.

But I also want to warn Mr. Tusk and Mr. Sikorski against creating such talks that these are going to be Polish-German projects, that this is going to be, for example, the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace by the Germans. Because later it will turn out that on this Saxon Palace rebuilt with some promille of reparations, there will be a plaque hanging saying that it is rebuilt thanks to the Germans. Thanks to „the benefactors of Germany.” That cannot possibly get our consent

— he assessed.

„This is exactly why Germany got involved in Donald Tusk’s campaign”

Thanks to the decision of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, we have taken very intensive actions in the international arena in recent years. These actions hurt German diplomacy a lot. Germany wants to present itself as a moral power, aspires to build the EU, permanent membership in the UNSC. Our raising this issue completely rips them of their moral mandate to lead in Europe and the world

— pointed out MP Mularczyk.

This is exactly why Germany was so involved in Donald Tusk’s campaign. The foundations, meetings, and support of the German media largely served to get the topic off the agenda so that Germany could conduct politics from the standpoint of moral superiority over other nations. Germany has no moral mandate to do so

— he added.

Any agreements that will be made on this issue in the future should have a parliamentary mandate and be ratified by the Parliament. The prime minister’s statement, expressed in one way or another, has no relevance here. It is obviously weakening Poland’s position, while we believe that these matters should be the subject of an international agreement ratified by the Polish Parliament

— emphasized the politician.

Tłum. K.J.