Polish president seeks reparations from Germany on WWII anniversary
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki called for reparations from Germany during a speech commemorating the 86th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.
In the early hours of Monday, Nawrocki and key officials, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Speaker of the Sejm, lower house, Szymon Holownia, attended a ceremony on the Westerplatte peninsula, northern Poland, where shelling by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein marked the outbreak of the most destructive conflict in world history.
In his speech, the president said that Warsaw faces a significant challenge in building the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance in the face of "resurgent neo-imperialism and the post-Soviet Russian Federation."
Nawrocki said that Poland shares this task with Germany, "the perpetrators of World War II."
"In order to build a partnership with our western neighbour based on truth and good relations, we must finally settle the issue of reparations from the German state, which, as President of Poland, I unequivocally demand for the common good, for our future," he said.
While addressing the gathering, Tusk said that Westerplatte is a "sacred place" to commemorate national heroes but also to remind us that Poland must never again fall victim to anyone's aggression.
"We must be wise, and therefore understand who is our enemy and who is our ally," the prime minister said. "We must understand well where this great threat comes from today and with whom we should unite in our efforts to defend Poland, the entire Western world, our civilisation, the civilisation of freedom," he said, listing Poland's allies, a united Europe and NATO.
The Westerplatte Peninsula in the northern city of Gdansk was the site of the first clash between German and Polish forces. A small Polish garrison stationed on Westerplatte fought off fierce German attacks from land, sea and the air until September 7.(PAP)aj/mf
