German foreign minister calls World War II reparations for Poland 'closed issue'

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – The issue of World War II German reparations for Poland is a closed issue at the governmental level, Germany’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

“I know that this topic interests many people in your country. Germany feels responsible, but the issue of reparations from the point of view of the German government is a closed issue," Annalena Baerbock told a press conference in the Polish capital, where she is attending the two-day Warsaw Security Forum.

Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, on Monday signed a diplomatic note demanding war reparations from Germany.

On Sept. 1, a parliamentary report was published on Polish losses suffered as a result of German aggression and occupation in 1939-1945, estimating them at $1.3 trillion.

“Polish society is still traumatized by the German invasion of 1939, which limits and inhibits the possibilities of further development and deepening Polish-German relations,” Rau said after meeting Baerbock in Warsaw on Tuesday.

The two top diplomats discussed current international security, including the war in Ukraine, and Russia's annexation last week of four Ukrainian regions.

"Europe is witnessing a great war again," Rau told the press conference, adding that neither country recognizes the results of the recent pseudo-referendums in Ukraine.

“We agree that the war must end with Ukraine regaining full territorial integrity, holding the perpetrators of war crimes to account, and Russia paying war reparations," Rau added.

Last week, after referendums were condemned by the international community as a "sham," Russia declared the annexation of the Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

​​​​​​​Türkiye has firmly rejected the annexation, calling them "a grave violation of the established principles of international law.”