(MENAFN) Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has raised questions about why the previous government in Warsaw did not formally seek World War II reparations from Russia. Sikorski claimed that Poland was entitled to receive 15 percent of reimbursements that the USSR was owed after WWII, as agreed upon, but the Soviets did not fulfill this commitment. Speaking in an interview with TNP broadcaster, Sikorski expressed his curiosity about why the Law and Justice government did not approach Russia, the legal successor to the Soviet Union, to address these outstanding reparations.
Under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland intensified its calls for reparations between 2015 and 2023, asserting that the country had not been adequately compensated for the damage inflicted by Nazi Germany. Sikorski highlighted that after the Soviet Army, along with local troops, liberated Poland from the Nazis in 1945, the agreed-upon reparations were not fulfilled, raising concerns about historical justice.
While acknowledging that the current Polish government still anticipates compensation from Germany, Sikorski conceded that the issue of reparations from Berlin had been resolved many years ago. He pointed to Minister Anna Fotyga's admission in response to a parliamentary question, confirming that reparations had already been granted to Poland in the Potsdam Treaty at the end of World War II.
Sikorski's remarks underscore a renewed focus on historical grievances and reparations, shedding light on Poland's unresolved claims and the complex dynamics surrounding compensation for the wartime damage suffered by the country. The questioning of why previous administrations did not pursue reparations from Russia adds a new dimension to the historical discourse, sparking discussions about diplomatic approaches and the pursuit of justice in post-World War II Europe.
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