eKathimerini — Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has renewed a demand for war reparations from Germany due to the Nazi occupation during World War II.
Speaking during a visit to the village of Kommeno, in Arta, northwestern Greece, where more than 300 people were executed by Nazi troops in 1943, Pavlopoulos said that the country was justified in seeking reparations for damages incurred during the war and for a forced loan taken out by the Axis powers.
“Our claims are legally effective and judicially enforceable,” he said.
Germany has repeatedly rejected Greece’s claims and says it has honored its obligations, including a 115 million deutschmark payment to Greece in 1960.
During the German occupation, much of Greece was subjected to enormous destruction of its industry (80% of which was destroyed), infrastructure (28% destroyed), ports, roads, railways and bridges (90%), forests and other natural resources (25%) and loss of civilian life (7.02% – 11.17% of its citizens). The occupying Nazi regime forced Greece to pay the cost of the Nazi occupation in the country and requisite raw materials and food for the occupation forces, creating the conditions for the Great Famine during which over 300,000 Greeks died from starvation. Furthermore, in 1942, the Greek Central Bank was forced by the occupying Nazi regime to loan 476 million Reichsmarks at 0% interest to Nazi Germany to fund its north Africa campaign.
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