Greece responds to German comments over WWII claims
Greece responded on Monday to comments by the German Foreign Ministry suggesting that claims arising from the Second World War Nazi occupation are ?no longer an issue? by insisting it does not believe the issue has been settled.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said Greece?s position remains ?unchanged? despite Berlin?s statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency that Germany had already paid reparations as part of a 1946 agreement and that the matter is closed. ?Greece has never given up its claims and never will,? the Foreign Ministry said.
Berlin?s statement prompted an angry response from WWII hero Manolis Glezos (photo), who said it was ?historically inaccurate, false and infuriating.? He said the 1946 pact obliged Germany to pay $7 billion (in 1938 prices) as reparations and another $3.5 billion for a war loan Athens was forced to provide. Glezos said this amounts to 162 billion euros without interest today. He added that ?not one mark, drachma or euro? of this money had been paid.
