In an interview with Poland's state media outlet, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the issue of restitution to Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the return of Jewish property to American Jewish descendants of Polish Jews was a 'closed matter', and that Poland had been 'released' from responsibility.
When asked by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at last week's Warsaw conference to arrange for the restitution of Jewish property, Morawiecki said, “We are consistently dealing with this issue and we have explained that the expectation of Polish compensation for Nazi crimes is based on basic misconception. Poland was the victim of Germany and the Soviet Union. They Germans destroyed our country and wanted to destroy the Polish people. We are the ones entitled to compensation.”
“Moreover, the issue of restitution of property to American Jews of Polish origin has been completely resolved. We signed an agreement with the Americans on this issue years ago and it frees us of the responsibility. I want to say it clearly, this issue does not exist at the moment,” Morawiecki added.
US Vice President Mike Pence said on Iran, “The greatest threat to peace and security in the Middle East,” and claimed that, “the Iranian regime supports another Holocaust.”
Morawiecki said that, “We share a lot of America’s concerns expressed at the Warsaw Conference. However, this does not contradict the fact that beyond the search for culprits in Middle East countries, Poland is ready to find solutions to peace and dialogue. We want effective diplomacy and peace. This summit began a process that will continue in the future. Poland does not oppose Iran, and we would like Tehran to take an active role in the Middle East process.”