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PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is a master strategist, and no doubt noticed that Germany's lacklustre delivery of weapons to Ukraine has alienated many in the region — making this the opportune moment to make demands (Photo: pis.org.pl)

Poland's Law & Justice party are playing politics with history

Poland's ruling nationalist Law & Justice government (PiS) have demanded a staggering €1.3trillion in reparations from Germany for damages from the second world war, but what they really want is domestic approval: PiS are trying to heat things up ahead of next year's elections as their lead in opinion polls diminishes.

Bad blood between Poles and Germany goes back a long way.

Even before the horrors of World War Two, when three million Polish Jews and three million ethnic Poles...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

James Jackson is a freelance journalist reporting from Berlin, covering Germany and Central & Eastern Europe. He writes for outlets such as BBC, The Times, Financial Times, Euronews and others. He was a 2022 IJP fellow in Warsaw, and before that a staffer at Deutsche Welle.

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is a master strategist, and no doubt noticed that Germany's lacklustre delivery of weapons to Ukraine has alienated many in the region — making this the opportune moment to make demands (Photo: pis.org.pl)

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Author Bio

James Jackson is a freelance journalist reporting from Berlin, covering Germany and Central & Eastern Europe. He writes for outlets such as BBC, The Times, Financial Times, Euronews and others. He was a 2022 IJP fellow in Warsaw, and before that a staffer at Deutsche Welle.

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