It's a 60 some year old issue that just won't die. The Nazi occupation era loan imposed to Greece in the early 1940s and the reparations for the damage caused to the country during those dark hours have a way of sneaking in occasionally, particularly during negotiations for the EU loan Germany mainly controls.
It sounds a bit like a case of “if you want us to pay, you should do the same”. Germany doesn't recognize any of these issues, based on some obscure deal in the late 1940s with then Greek officials. German president Joachim Gauck all but mentioned it again during his recent official visit to the country, when he offered an apology for Nazi atrocities.
Until Germany agrees to negotiate on the issue, all announcements and high volumes will amount to little more than sheer nationalistic chatter
This apology was the starting point of today's press conference conducted by the German Debt Claim National Council to announce its resolve on the issue. President and spokesman for the Council is resistance veteran and SYRIZA MP, Manolis Glezos, who has been instrumental on the issue for years.
“Our request today is clear: Sign a peace treaty with Germany, which the usually lawful Germans refuse to do, because that would mean they would have to pay what they owe to Greece”, he said. “It's easy to offer an apology without assuming one's responsibilities”, added Christoph Schminck-Gustavus, History professor in the Bremen university, who contributed in the research for German atrocities in the northern Greece.
According to Mr. Glezos, the sum of reparations owed to the Greek state consist of the load imposed on occupied Greece, damages to the economy and infrastructure and the appropriation of archeological treasures and works of art. He pointed out that the amount was set by the Allied Commission in Paris, in 1946.
The issue is also being worked out by a special committee of the Greek parliament and the General Accounting Office of the Greek state, but both have been dragging their feet, given that the German state refuses to even talk about it. Until the opposite happens, all announcements and high volumes will amount to little more than sheer nationalistic chatter.
Photo: Georgia Panagopoulou (Eurokinissi)
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