‘If Germany does not pay reparations, it will be a huge loss of reputation’

Since 2004, Ryszard Czarnecki has served as a Member of the European Parliament. He is an experienced politician. He belongs to Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS). He is also the chairman of the EU-Turkey Friendship Group, which was established in 2020, and which aims to develop relations between Turkey and the European Union in cultural and social fields. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the ruling PiS have recently asked Germany for reparations for the significant losses incurred during the Second World War.

In an interview with Der Spiegel on September 10, Morawiecki provided the following justification for the request: “6.2 trillion zlotys is not a particularly large sum. Almost equal to the size of the entire Federal Republic of Germany’s budget. Poland is the only nation that endured the most during the Second World War without receiving compensation. We can later file a lawsuit in international courts, if necessary.”

This reparation-related question, which has recently become one of the most hotly debated ones in Europe, was something we brought up to Ryszard Czarnecki, an authorized person. You may find his assessment of the sanctions on Russia as well as information about countries that want to leave the Eurozone in our interview.

Tunç Akkoç with Ryszard Czarnecki during the interview.

‘Political cost would be bigger than the material cost’

• First of all why did Poland bring up the demand for reparations years later? What are the historical reasons for this?

Well, we know that World War II has ended more than 70 years ago. However last month, Namibia was given a reparation by Germany, for their genocide that took place before World War I between 1904 and 1908. Then there is also the demand for reparations from Greece and from the Romanian Jews. That is why we are still expecting a full reparation from Germany. Germany has paid a partial reparation but we have lost more than 6 million citizens and a huge portion of our industrial power. And frankly speaking the main question is not whether there will be a full reparation or not, but when will the full reparations be paid. Because in the long term, this was a huge loss of reputation of Germany. This was devastating for the German history and memory. And for the last 25 years we see that Germany has been seriously trying to improve their image around the world. They produce movies, books and make conferences. And their final message was that there were also huge casualties on their side, and the responsibility for all the massacres holocaust etc. were done by Nazi ideology and not the German nation itself. If we are speaking of the real history of the World War II, which began after the German invasion of Poland in 1939. And I think the political cost of not paying the full reparation, would be bigger than the material cost of paying the full reparation.

‘They fail to respect the rights of the Polish minority in Germany’

• My next question is again about the tensions between Poland and Germany. Is the Polish government concerned about the German threat since we know there are some tensions between the two countries? If so why did Poland agree to deploy German Patriot missile systems on their territory?

First of all, it was our final choice to have German Patriots in Polish territory. There was simply no alternatives. And the problem is that the German government is divided within. Because some of the ministers do not agree to give Patriots to Poland and other weapons for Ukraine, and some of the ministers actually oppose this proposal. And the Minister of Defense  who proposed the deployment of Patriot systems to Poland was strongly criticized by the government.

Obviously the problem is not the military support from Germany. The problem is that Ukrainian side has recently revealed that Germany has only promised arms support but never realized it. I think that is not good for the German reputation, but after all this is up to them. I think the problem is not in our military relations, because I think the fact that Germany still does not accept we have a huge minority in Germany. There are 1.5 million citizens who were born in Poland and feel as Poles. When we respect the German minority in Poland, they fail to respect the rights of the Polish minority in Germany. This is the real problem between us, and not the Patriots.

‘Italy may leave the Eurozone’

• You are working in the European Parliament, so what is causing the conflict between Brussels and Warsaw. Can we say there would be another Brexit or Polexit in this case?

Definitely not, this is fake news. Something around 70-80 percent of Poles support our presence in the European Union. But interestingly also around 60-70 percent of our citizens are against our ascension to Eurozone. A majority of the Poles are skeptical about a common European currency, or our contribution to this project. But for us there is no alternative to the European Union. A Polexit is not possible, and is absolutely fake or is a misunderstanding. Maybe we can speak of some other exits, some countries may leave the Eurozone. But of course this is not a problem for us since we are not a member of the Eurozone.

Which countries do you think?

Well, I heard about some debates among the political circles in Italy. But of course it is not our job to tell what other countries should do. Poland is a member of the G5, the 5 biggest countries in the EU. And we mostly agree in policies with other countries, but we sometimes have different interests with other elements within the EU. I would not say there is actually a conflict, but just some different interests between Poland and France, Germany or Netherlands etc.

‘We would like to have a buffer between Poland and Russia’

• The last question is about the economic situation. Could the reason for the inflation in Poland be the sanctions against Russia? Or will Poland continue to help Ukraine, despite the rising energy costs etc.?

First of all, we can speak of a decreasing inflation in the recent days as a good news. And I think the decisions of the Central Bank of Poland was satisfying in practice. And for example Baltic States and Netherlands have a higher inflation than my country, and Czechia has a very similar inflation to us. But look at Turkiye, it has a huge inflation but still keeps developing economically. And for the part about the support for Ukraine, well yes and no… I think that the first reason would be the Covid pandemic, the second reason would be the war in Ukraine. But we will still keep supporting Ukraine, since it is in our own interest. Because we would like to have a buffer between Poland and Russia. That is the reason behind our support of food, medical supplies and of course weapons. And Poland is the biggest supporter of Ukraine in EU and third biggest supporter in the world after the USA and the UK.