Germany rejects Greece's latest call for WWII reparations

Berlin says matter is closed after Greek PM vows to do ‘whatever is necessary’ to get further compensation for Nazi atrocities

The German government is rebuffing the latest push by Greece to secure reparations for the brutal Nazi occupation of Greece during World War II.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that Berlin’s “position is very clear” on the reparations issue and has been stated repeatedly.

“The question of German reparations has been conclusively dealt with, legally and politically,” Seibert said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed Tuesday to exhaust diplomatic and, if necessary, legal means to win reparations.

He urged Germany, the main European contributor to Greece’s massive bailout program, to enter negotiations on the matter.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias, left, and his German counterpart Joachim Gauck, right, inspect a presidential guard during an official welcome ceremony outside the presidential palace, in Athens , on Thursday, March 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

A Greek parliamentary committee recently prepared a report on war reparations. It hasn’t been made public but Greek media reports say it set the total sum due at 300-400 billion euros ($340-$450 billion).

On Tuesday Tsipras vowed to do “whatever is necessary” — including taking legal action — to get Germany to pay damages for the wartime atrocities of Nazi troops.

Berlin has said reparations to Greece were settled in 1960 as part of an agreement with several European governments.

But successive Greek administrations have invoked the issue in recent years amid flaring tempers between debt-mired Athens and the eurozone’s paymaster, which has dictated tough austerity terms in return for Greece’s three European bailouts.

“(Greece) will do whatever is necessary, mainly at a diplomatic level, and if necessary, at a legal level,” Tsipras said during a visit to Kommeno, a village wiped out by Nazi soldiers in 1943.

“Greece and its people do not forget the slaughter and war crimes of the Nazi army and demands a tangible recognition by the German government, even one that is 73 years late,” he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjW5fKLoOY4

In Kommeno, northwestern Greece, Nazi troops killed 317 civilians on August 16, 1943. They later carried out similar atrocities at the villages of Kalavryta and Distomo.

A special Greek parliamentary committee looking into the war reparations issue recently came to a total of 269.5 billion euros ($303 billion), including a forced loan of 10.3 billion euros, but not counting loss of life and injury.

The committee report, seen by AFP, is to be discussed by parliament early next month.