Arkadiusz Mularczyk made the announcement in an interview with Polish Radio on Thursday, the public broadcaster’s IAR news agency reported.
'They simply should sit down for talks with Poland soon'
Mularczyk, who leads a Polish parliamentary team on war reparations, said the government in Berlin “needs to be given time to carefully examine the diplomatic note on compensation for Poland.”
Mularczyk added that recent statements by German officials that the topic of war reparations for Poland was “closed” were “premature.”
He told Polish Radio: “These are thorny, complex issues of a political, diplomatic, economic and analytical nature. I believe the German government needs at least a few weeks to conclude that they simply should sit down for talks with Poland soon.”
Mularczyk also said that the contents of Poland’s note to Germany "are not being withheld from public scrutiny" and that the "main assumptions and theses" of the document would soon be made public.
Warsaw could 'apply for arbitration'
Mularczyk told Polish Radio that Poland expected Germany "to reply on the issue of WWII reparations within two to three months."
He added that "if Berlin didn’t respond or did so unsatisfactorily," Warsaw could "apply for arbitration," for instance to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ).
He revealed that he had "raised the issue of German reparations for World War II" with the top officials and national delegates at the Council of Europe.
Mularczyk said he had stressed that Germany’s “unequal treatment of various countries and nations with regard to reparations and the lack of procedures to claim compensation in court, is a serious shortcoming.”
He added: “This matter should be addressed in a Council of Europe debate and a relevant resolution. I am in talks with key figures at the Council of Europe, and we are drawing up a draft resolution.”
'This isn’t merely a dispute between Poland and Germany'
Mularczyk also said that Poland was sharing information about its push for war reparations from Germany "with other countries that may be interested in the issue."
He told Polish Radio that a recent study he oversaw on Poland’s WWII losses at the hands of Nazi Germany "has been read closely and commented upon in many capitals around the world," including Beijing.
He said he believed that many countries would be monitoring Germany’s response “because this isn’t merely a dispute between Poland and Germany, but it concerns the rule of law in the European Union and compliance with human rights.”
According to Mularczyk, Poland’s demand for reparations decades after the war may serve as a warning to any nation invading another that “sooner or later they will be billed for the harm and losses they have caused.”
Mularczyk, who is set to be appointed a deputy foreign minister, told Polish Radio: “This is a global, international topic that concerns some of the fundamental issues of our civilisation, namely the right to compensation from an aggressor.”
Push for WWII reparations from Germany
On September 1, Poland announced that the losses suffered by the country at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II totalled EUR 1.3 trillion and that it would demand reparations from Berlin.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last month: “I am convinced that we will receive reparations from Germany, although it won’t happen quickly.”
He added: “Even the most difficult journey begins with the first step.”
On October 3, Polish Foreign Minister Zbgniew Rau signed a formal note to the government in Berlin, demanding compensation for the losses Poland suffered between 1939 and 1945.
On October 4, Germany's top diplomat Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Warsaw that the question of WWII reparations for Poland was closed, according to media reports at the time.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was quoted as saying in a media interview in September that the issue of WWII reparations for Poland "has been settled conclusively" under international law.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, i.pl