US ramps up pressure on Poland over Holocaust restitution
Source: AP
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is ramping up pressure on Poland in hopes of stopping legislation that would prevent families from receiving restitution for property seized during the Holocaust and communist era.
The U.S. said Wednesday that Poland is the only country in Europe to have regressed over the past year in meeting commitments to return seized property or provide compensation for Holocaust victims and their families. The public admonishment is likely to anger Polish authorities, who have rejected previous criticism on the matter.
The issue is one of several points of friction that have arisen or gotten worse between Washington and Warsaw since the Biden administration has been in office. Others include differences over the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline and a proposed restrictive media law.
The proposed compensation law, which may be enacted in August, has already been denounced by Israel, Jewish groups and the U.S. The new U.S. criticism comes just before the one-year anniversary of the release of a congressionally mandated report tracking European progress in adjudicating Holocaust claims. That report called out several nations but was particularly critical of Poland.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves farewell as he boards his plane at New Delhi Palam Airport to depart for Kuwait from New Delhi, India, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-europe-middle-east-religion-poland-33d7c9023551a4094d3e703749ad95a1
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