At the end of June, Polish parliament passed an amendment to the Codex of administrative procedure (KPA) which states that after the passage of 30 years since the issuing of an administrative decision, it will be impossible to initiate proceedings to question that decision. This concerns, for example, property that was taken away in the past.
The amendment was met with a harsh reaction from the side of Israel. The Israeli embassy in Poland stated that the new law would prevent the return of Jewish property or applications for compensation. The embassy also called the law “immoral” and claimed that it would seriously damage relations between the two countries.
Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid also declared that the amendment to the law was “shameful” and would harm mutual relations.
Law and Justice (PiS) chairman Jarosław Kaczyński commented on Lapid’s statement. He called the Israeli FM’s words “insolent and unacceptable”.
“What’s more, it turned out that the Polish opposition believes Poland to be some sort of second-rate state. If we were to listen to them, then one would think that prior to the Polish parliament passing a law, it should consult that decision in several places in the world and see whether it would be approved. We have radically different views when it comes to this matter,” he said.
Kaczyński emphasized that Poland would make its own laws and owed nothing to anyone – “not even the smallest penny.”
The leader of Law and Justice pointed out that, on the other hand, there still were bills others had to settle with Poland concerning WW2 losses.
“Germany owes us over a trillion dollars for their crimes and destruction during the Second World War,” he said, adding that there will come a time to settle the issue of war reparations with Germany.
