The German government shows not a single sign of willingness to negotiate with Greece over the claimed reparations from WWI and WWII. A day after Athens officially called on Berlin to join the negotiations table, the response came from the German Foreign Ministry.
The issue was “legally and politically settled,” a spokesman of the Ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday.
“More than 70 years after the War and 25 years after the Two Plus Four Treaty [German Reunification Treaty of 1990] the question of reparations has been is legally and politically settled,” spokesman Rainer Breul said.
Even though he reiterated the ‘fundamental German position” on the issue, he added ” we are examining the content” of the note verbale Greece submitted to Germany a day earlier.
Breul added that while Germany stands by its moral responsibility, seeks “a dialogue with Greece” and “a common culture of remembrance,” it considers the reparations issue as closed.
Following instructions by the Greek Foreign Ministry the Ambassador in Berlin submitted a note verbale that officially calls on Germany to enter the negotiation table over damages to Greece and the Greek people during the Nazi occupation at the WWII as well as reparations for the WWI. It is the first time Greece is taking such a step.
The Greek demands are estimated to be over 300 billion euros, including interests. A Greek Parliamentary committee investigating the reparations issue has determined that Germany owes Greece 270 billion euros from damages, looting and enforced loan during the WWI and WWII. Furthermore, it estimated that private claims for the war dead, the executed and invalids during the war would add another 107 billion euros.
More on the Greek-German War Reparations dispute here.
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