Germany rejects Polish threat to demand WWII reparations

Berlin has dismissed Warsaw's demands for paying massive World War II reparations, saying the bitter historical issue was fully resolved sixty years ago and that there are no grounds to revive it.

"Poland made a binding decision in August 1953… to relinquish demands for further war reparations," said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert as quoted by AFP.

He added that although Germany values warm relations with neighboring Poland, "this issue was therefore settled both legally and politically."

Germany, he said, bears full responsibility for the losses and damages inflicted in World War II and has paid "considerable reparations for overall war damages" to Poland.

The Third Reich invaded Poland in 1939. The country, which hosted many of the Nazi extermination camps, including the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated in...