WARSAW (Sputnik) – Polish ruling Law and Justice lawmaker Jan Mosinski said, as quoted by the Polish radio, that it would be fair to "gather at the table and discuss how these military reparations could be done." Similarly, Polish Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki stressed that after 1945 Poland "spent trillions of zlotys" to rebuild the state after World War II.
"Imagine if we had spent this money on Poland's development instead of spending it to cover war damage. Today, Poland would be twice as strong economically, all of us would earn twice as much as in the West without these damages and wars," Jaki said.
At the same time, both politicians believe that Poland has the right to demand military reparations not only from Germany but also from Russia. Mosinski recalled that in 1921, Soviet Russia and Poland signed the Treaty of Riga, under which the former had to repay Poland 30 million rubles in gold. Mosinski noted that this monetary compensation had not been provided.
The PiS lawmaker stressed that Russia, which was "as a successor of Soviet Russia" had to think about "how to deal with the Treaty of Riga."
"The Russians should also assume responsibility for what they had done in Poland," Jaki noted.
On August 24, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said Warsaw had the right to demand reparations from Germany to compensate for atrocities committed during World War II, stressing that reparations would be "a reminder of justice, of what belongs to Poland."
The Treaty of Riga, signed between Poland and Russia in 1921, ended the Russo-Polish war of 1919-1920 and set a mutual border.
