Arkadiusz Mularczyk outlined the plan of his US trip in an interview with Polish state news agency PAP on Thursday.
He will travel to America on Sunday, January 29, and is scheduled to return on February 5, according to officials.
Washington, New York, Chicago
Mularczyk told the PAP news agency that he would hold a series of meetings with US congressmen and representatives of think tanks in Washington.
He also plans to meet with officials from the United Nations and other international institutions in New York as well as members of America’s Polish community in Chicago.
WWII damages from Germany, Polish-US relations, support for Ukraine
Mularczyk added that his meetings in the United States would focus on “Poland’s efforts to secure compensation for World War II from Germany,” as well as “bilateral Polish-American relations and further support for Ukraine amid Russian aggression.”
According to Mularczyk, the United States “is a country that ensures compliance with justice and the international order” and "so it’s necessary to garner the support of American lawmakers" in seeking to persuade Germany to engage in “constructive dialogue” about World War II damages, the PAP news agency reported.
Mularczyk said that earlier this month, he had asked US congressmen, including the Chairman of the US Helsinki Commission, Senator Ben Cardin, “to assist Poland in being compensated for the losses incurred as a result of World War II.”
Poland’s push for WWII damages from Germany
In September last year, Poland's government announced that the losses suffered by the country at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II totalled PLN 6.22 trillion (EUR 1.3 trillion) and that it would demand compensation from Berlin.
In October, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed a formal note to the government in Berlin, demanding compensation for losses Poland sustained during the war.
Mularczyk said on Thursday that Poland had already sent “more than 50 formal diplomatic notes to the countries of the European Union, the Council of Europe and NATO to present its case for claiming compensation from Germany for World War II.”
Poland has also applied to enlist the support of the Council of Europe and the United Nations, as well as asking the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help regain cultural treasures plundered from the country during World War II, reporters were told.
According to the German government, "the issue of reparations and compensation for World War II losses remains closed” and Berlin "does not intend to enter into negotiations on the matter," officials have said.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, polskieradio24.pl, wnp.pl