Arkadiusz Mularczyk announced the move at a news conference in Warsaw on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He said the government was determined “to bring the issue of compensation for the losses Poland suffered as a result of World War II onto the international stage.”
Poland asks Council of Europe for help
He told the news conference: “Today I would like to announce a new initiative. Today I am asking the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, to cooperate with Poland as we seek to secure compensation from Germany for the losses suffered as a result of World War II.”
Mularczyk later said in a tweet: “I asked the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and its Committee of Ministers, to establish cooperation regarding compensation for Poland based on damages caused by German aggression in 1939-1945; let’s hope for constructive collaboration!”
He told reporters: “The Council of Europe is an organisation that aims to uphold human rights, democracy, the foundations of our European civilisation, but above all, to ensure that the European Convention on Human Rights is fully respected by all states. I request that the issue of war compensation for Poland be examined.”
He added: “Since the German state does not want to resolve this issue in the form of bilateral negotiations, we ask for cooperation so that an appropriate platform for dialogue between Poland and Germany is created.”
Mularczyk said that Poland last month sent a diplomatic note to about 50 NATO, European Union and Council of Europe countries to brief them on its efforts to secure more than PLN 6 trillion in compensation from Germany for World War II.
He added: “We are notifying our main allies and partners about issues in Polish-German relations, about the fact that the topic of compensation for World War II hasn’t been settled between our countries and that Germany hasn’t expressed a willingness to settle it.”
He also said that “responses to the notes are promising, and our allies are very understanding of our situation.”
He added: “Many of our partners didn’t realise these issues have never been settled in Polish-German relations.”
The Council of Europe is an international organisation that brings together 46 countries aiming to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, tvp.info