Polish, German Presidents to Discuss German WWII Reparations Thursday

The Polish presidential office reports that the country's President Andrzej Duda and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier will discuss the issue of World War II reparations on Thursday.

WARSAW (Sputnik) — Polish President Andrzej Duda and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will discuss the issue of German World War II reparations to Poland on Thursday, the Polish presidential office said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the German Ambassador to Poland Rolf Nikel reiterated Berlin's position on German reparations to Poland, saying that the issue was formally and politically closed.

"The presidents of Poland and Germany will meet each other in Malta on Thursday. The issue of reparations, in particular, should be among the subjects of the bilateral discussion," the presidential office said in a tweet.

In early August, lawmaker from Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party Arkadiusz Mularczyk said that he had sent a request to the Bureau of Research of the Polish parliament to find out whether it was possible to demand additional World War II reparations from Germany.

Berlin, in response, said that while Germany was undoubtedly responsible for World War II in moral, political and financial senses, the issue of German reparations to Poland had already been resolved at both political and legal levels.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, after the so-called Gleiwitz incident. The invasion forced France and the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany. It took Germany a bit more than a month to defeat the Polish Army and occupy the country, which was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945.