- WORLD NEWS
- April 24, 2013, 5:04 p.m. ET
Greece Wants Germany to Pay War Reparations
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- By
- NEKTARIA STAMOULI and
- PHILIP PANGALOS
- CONNECT
ATHENS—Greece is seeking to revive a long-standing demand for reparations from Germany arising from World War II, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, in a move that could test Athens's ties with Berlin, which bears the largest part of the country's rescue package.
Greece's claims to war damages from Germany's occupation of the country some 70 years ago aren't new and there is little sign that they could be successful this time. Earlier attempts by previous governments and individuals to raise the issue have resulted in lengthy legal battles, some of which are still pending at international courts.
But the country's fragile coalition government has been under pressure to push ahead with the case, by a vocal leftist opposition that is seeking to politically capitalize on public anger against Germany, and also by public opinion. Berlin is largely blamed domestically for harsh austerity measures that have slashed incomes and boosted unemployment to a record 27%.
"Most legal experts think Greece doesn't have much of a chance on this issue, given the passage of time and the fact that Germany has been among the most active donor nations contributing to European structural funds and funds to Greece since the 1980s," said Theodore Couloumbis, professor emeritus in international relations at the University of Athens. "In my view, a political game is being played and it is being exaggerated."
Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos told lawmakers that Greece hasn't given up its bid to obtain war reparations from Germany.
"We are pressing on with all the necessary measures," Mr. Avramopoulos said. He called for "the restoration of justice and truth about the suffering of the Greek people during the difficult years of the occupation…a difficult period during which the Greek people suffered, went hungry and were looted like no other country."
Mr. Avramopoulos didn't specify the amount Greece would seek in damages nor in what jurisdiction or on what legal grounds they would be pursued, pending an opinion by its legal advisers
Local media reports put the damages amount at as much as €162 billion ($211 billion)—equal to about 80% of the country's gross domestic product and nearly half of its estimated public debt—citing government officials and a confidential experts' report commissioned by the Ministry of Finance.
About two-thirds of the claims relate to damages caused to country during the Nazi occupation, with the rest relating to the repayment of a forced loan from the
Bank of Greece
TELL.AT +22.69%
to the German military in 1942, say the reports. Greek government officials have declined to comment on the report, which is now being reviewed by the state's legal advisers.
Germany, which has long insisted that the matter is closed, reiterated on Wednesday that there was nothing to discuss. "The [German] Federal Government is of the opinion that the question of reparations is already settled," said a German finance ministry official.
Greece was among other nations that were awarded a symbolic compensation mostly in material goods as part of the Paris Conference on Reparations in 1945. Germany subsequently also agreed to pay Greece some 115 million deutsche marks in 1960 as compensation to individual victims of Nazi crimes on the condition that no further individual claims would be considered.
But cases have kept coming, with the most notable one by the residents of Distomo in central Greece, where mass killings took place in 1944. Some of these cases have made their way to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Faced with rising anger and frustration at the country's six-year recession, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will be called on to perform a fine balancing act as he resurrects these financial claims.
Tensions between the two countries intensified early last summer as Greece was threatened with euro exit in the midst of a political vacuum. But relations have been improving since Mr. Samaras's election and after German chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Athens late last year. In recent months, German officials have praised Greece on its reform efforts after a slow start to its adjustment program.
With Greece continually looking for support from Germany in its quest for softer bailout terms to international aid, Greek political leaders hope to avoid an embarrassing kerfuffle in Berlin.
"This should not be a hostile action against the [German] people with which we are on a common European course together," Mr. Avramopoulos said.
Greece's bargaining position has been weakened by the country's three-year debt crisis. The country has also been a recipient of aid for years as one of the poorer members of the European Union.
For decades Greece has been paying for infrastructure projects from European Union funds, heavily funded by Germany, while Berlin is the largest contributor to Greece's €173 billion second bailout that has prevented the country from defaulting.
However, austerity-weary Greeks want to see more action being taken against Germany on compensation efforts as unemployment continues to rise and businesses shut down at a record pace.
On Wednesday, the main opposition Syriza party called for a cross-parliamentary party committee to be set up that can oversee the push to obtain damages—a position backed by socialists Pasok, which take part in the conservative-led coalition government. Syriza, which is neck and neck with Mr. Samaras' New Democracy party in the polls, also called for the Greek prime minister to take a stance on the issue.
—Harriet Torry in Berlin and Stelios Bouras in Athens contributed to this article.
Write to
Nektaria Stamouli at nektaria.stamouli@dowjones.com
and Philip Pangalos at philip.pangalos@dowjones.com
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