On Tuesday Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras renewed his commitment to pursuing German war reparations from World War II, stating that the Greek government will do “whatever is necessary” to receive the German payout.
According to the German newspaper published on Wednesday in response to Tsipras’ demands, Handelsblatt, the German government has once again said that the reparation issue is “closed” as the tabloid Bild also reiterated that Berlin completely rejects Greece’s claims that billions of euros are still owed to Greece.
The “Two Plus Four Agreement” did not Include Greece
The German government has long said that the reparations issue was resolved back in 1990 when, in the time preceding Germany’s reunification, West Germany and East Germany signed the Two Plus Four Agreement with the former Allied countries including United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. However, Greece did not sign the agreement and has continued to insist that the 115 million marks payment from West Germany in 1960 was only a down-payment to the total amount owed.
Destruction of Greece Under Nazi Germany’s Occupation
Nazi Germany’s occupation of Greece resulted in the destruction of 80 percent of Greece’s industry with 28 percent of infrastructure destroyed, transit and transportation routes such as ports, roads, railways and bridges were left with 90 percent in ruins, 25 percent of forests and other natural resources were destroyed and loss of civilian life is estimated at some 11 percent of the population, according to official reports.
There was also an enforced loan by the Nazi’s which caused the starvation of some 300,000 people in Athens.
As of April 6, 2015, the Greek government released evaluated statistics on war reparations from Germany which equal some 279 billion euros.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
