FAZ: “Kaczyñski sharpens his tone against Germany.” The topic of war reparations returns

“While it is arguing with the institutions about the rule of law, the government is tightening the tone against it,” writes the German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” on Friday (December 3, 2021). The latest example is – according to the newspaper – the statement of the head of Jarosław Kaczyski during the meeting of the party’s parliamentary caucus. The Polish media informed about these words. As the daily reports, quoting Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “Deluge”, Kaczyński was to say: “Hard deadlines have come for Europeans. The Germans have laid their cards on the table and want the construction of the 4th Reich. We will not allow it!”.

“FAZ” notes that – according to the media critical of the government – the participants of the PiS club meeting responded with applause to these words, and on Thursday PiS politicians explained that the statement was supposed to be a mobilization for important votes and was a metaphor or a joke that was supposed to describe “Germany’s aspirations to hegemony “.

The issue of reparations returns

“The words are somewhat in contradiction to other statements,” notes “FAZ”. And he reminds that in the past the head of PiS praised Chancellor Angel Merkel several times as “the best choice” from the Polish perspective. “As a goal of Polish politics, Kaczyński also presented ‘catching up’ with Germany in terms of living standards. But the fact that the tone towards his big neighbor and the most important trade partner will be more harsh may also be seen in the prime minister’s decisions,” notes the German daily, adding that he “deviated from he attended the course of many party comrades who demand war damages from Berlin.

“FAZ” reminds that last week Morawiecki sealed the establishment of the War Loss Institute. Jan Karski, and the parliamentary working group dealing with the estimation of Polish war losses, is to present a report on this matter, which has been announced for years.

According to the journal, attention is also drawn to the ongoing poster campaign against Germany, addressed, inter alia, to to the German ambassador in Warsaw. “FAZ” describes the slogans appearing on posters, which include They accuse the Germans of dividing the victims of their crimes into better and worse and call for payment, “FAZ” also notes that the posters show the logo of some right-wing media, but also the Polish Ministry of Culture.