[DW] "Germany's response is astonishing to us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as for the Polish state. The German government cannot answer a question that was never posed. Neither negotiations nor conciliatory discussions took place." That's what Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk had to say about Germany's newest refusal to pay Poland reparations for World War II. Mularczyk made the statement on Wednesday in Warsaw. "We do not accept Germany's position. We reject it as completely unjustified and wrong. We will continue to act within Germany and on the international stage to urge the German population and the international community to change its position," Mularczyk said.
The statement that had generated such widespread outrage was short and direct: "According to information from the Federal Republic of Germany, the matter of reparations and compensation for losses during World War II is closed, and Germany has no intention of negotiating the issue." The reaction from Poland's government was swift.
A response from the Poland's Foreign Ministry stated: "The Polish government will continue its efforts to settle the question of debt that was accrued a result of German aggression and its occupation of Poland from 1939 to 1945."
It's unlikely that anyone affiliated with Poland's United Right, the political alliance that has ruled the country since 2015, believed that Germany's decision would be different. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already made that very clear on October 4, after the Polish government had sent a diplomatic note stating demands to Berlin the day prior.
