Mariusz Błaszczak made the remark in an interview with public broadcaster Polish Radio on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told a meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that the United Nations “could have stopped” Russia’s aggression against his country, had it not been for Moscow’s veto at the UNSC.
He said: “Veto power in the hands of the aggressor is what has pushed the UN into a dead end.”
Zelensky proposed wide-ranging reforms of the UN system, including giving the UN General Assembly the right to reject a veto by a permanent member of the UNSC; and raising the number of permanent members of the UNSC, including by giving a seat to Germany, the PAP news agency reported.
The Polish defence minister commented on Thursday: “Germany should settle the issue of World War II with Poland. The claim for war reparations we have submitted to Germany remains valid.”
Błaszczak added: “Germany committed war crimes on the territory of occupied Poland. Six million Poles were killed by Germans. The economy was destroyed.”
The Polish defence minister also argued that "Germany did not help Ukraine" in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Błaszczak said: “Apparently President Zelensky has different considerations. He is pursuing a policy he considers to be correct, but from the Polish viewpoint, this is indeed a big disappointment.”
Germany 'can't become guarantor of peace and security': Polish deputy FM
Meanwhile, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk said on Thursday that Germany cannot be a guarantor of global peace and security because it has not compensated other countries for World War II, the PAP news agency reported.
Mularczyk wrote on the X social media platform: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal that Germany become a permanent member of the UN Security Council must be met with profound opposition.”
The Polish deputy foreign minister added: “Germany has never settled the accounts with Poland, the Polish people and other nations, also Ukraine, for the war crimes and lootings during World War II, and so it can’t become ‘the guarantor of peace and security in the world.’”
The UN Security Council currently has five permanent members, the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain, as well as 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
Thursday is day 575 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, president.gov.ua