Greek bailout crisis: Athens threatens to seize German assets 'as compensation for Nazi war crimes'
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras claimed Greek victims of the Second World War occupation by Germany had never been fully compensated
Greece has threatened to seize German assets as compensation for Nazi war crimes – 70 years after the end of the Second World War.
The threat, made by the Greek justice minister and reported in the daily Kathimerini newspaper, has been supported by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who told the Greek parliament he would pursue the “very technical and sensitive” matter.
Justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos has reportedly called for “war reparations, the repayment of a forced loan and the return of antiquities” from Germany, and said that an old court ruling gave him the power to sanction “the foreclosure of German assets in Greece” as a form of compensation.
The issue was dismissed out of hand by Germany, with Angela Merkel’s spokesperson rejecting questions about reparations that “have been legally and politically resolved”. “We should concentrate on current issues and, hopefully, what will be a good future,” Steffen Seibert said.
“Germany is very aware of its moral obligation to keep alive the memory of Germany's guilt for the Second World War and the suffering it caused in many countries. That doesn't change anything about the legal and political assessment of the question of compensation and reparations.”
Greece elections 2015: In pictures
Show all 25
Greece elections 2015: In pictures
1/25 Greece elections 2015
A supporter of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, holds the Greek and French flag during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
2/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, cheer during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
3/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, speaks during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
4/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, cheer during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
5/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, opposition leader and head of radical leftist Syriza party, greets supporters after the initial election results for the Greece general elections in Athens
6/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Germany's left-wing Die Linke party, hold placards as they show their support to Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party after his speech to supporters in central Athens
7/25 Greece elections 2015
A woman waves a Greek flag during a speech by the leader of Syriza left-wing party Alexis Tsipras outside Athens University Headquarters
8/25 Greece elections 2015
Anti austerity Syriza party supporters celebrate as leader Alexis Tsipras speaks folllowing victory in the election in Athens
9/25 Greece elections 2015
Greece's Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras waves to his supporters as he arrivess at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens
10/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of New Democracy wave Greek flags during Antonis Samaras pre-election speech
AP
11/25 Greece elections 2015
A voter casts his ballot in front of a map of Greece at a polling station in a school in Athens
12/25 Greece elections 2015
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in a school in a suburb of Athens near Athens
13/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of the opposition radical leftist Syriza party cheer at exit poll results which indicate that Syriza have a clear lead in in Athens
14/25 Greece elections 2015
Anti-austerity Syriza supporters celebrate after the first exit polls, as they gather at the Syriza election kiosk in Athens
15/25 Greece elections 2015
Media crew set up in the balconies of a hotel overlooking the Greek Parliament building in Athens
16/25 Greece elections 2015
Political party papers are organised at a polling station in a school in Athens
17/25 Greece elections 2015
The Greek flag flies on top of the Greek parliament in Athens, as the nation goes to the polls. Greece votes in a crucial general election that could bring the anti-austerity Syriza party to power and lead to a re-negotiation of the country's international bailout
18/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras is welcomed as he arrives for a pre-election campaign speech
AP
19/25 Greece elections 2015
Prime Minister and leader of the conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samara delivers a pre-election speech
Getty Images
20/25 Greece elections 2015
The Leader of Pasok (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) Evangelos Venizelos speaks during a parliament meeting in December 2014
AP
21/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, head of the Syriza left-wing main opposition party, on the campaign trail
AP
22/25 Greece elections 2015
Election posters for the communist party adorn a derelict shop in Athens
Getty Images
23/25 Greece elections 2015
Ballet dancers, performing for a film in Athens, dance in front of the Parliament building ahead of the general election
Getty Images
24/25 Greece elections 2015
Workers put up polling station signs at a school in Athens
EPA
25/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters cheer as head of the conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samara arrives at the Taekwondo Indoor Stadium in Athens to give a pre-election address
Getty Images
1/25 Greece elections 2015
A supporter of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, holds the Greek and French flag during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
2/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, cheer during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
3/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, speaks during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
4/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party, cheer during a rally outside Athens University Headquarters in Athens
5/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, opposition leader and head of radical leftist Syriza party, greets supporters after the initial election results for the Greece general elections in Athens
6/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of Germany's left-wing Die Linke party, hold placards as they show their support to Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza left-wing party after his speech to supporters in central Athens
7/25 Greece elections 2015
A woman waves a Greek flag during a speech by the leader of Syriza left-wing party Alexis Tsipras outside Athens University Headquarters
8/25 Greece elections 2015
Anti austerity Syriza party supporters celebrate as leader Alexis Tsipras speaks folllowing victory in the election in Athens
9/25 Greece elections 2015
Greece's Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras waves to his supporters as he arrivess at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens
10/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of New Democracy wave Greek flags during Antonis Samaras pre-election speech
AP
11/25 Greece elections 2015
A voter casts his ballot in front of a map of Greece at a polling station in a school in Athens
12/25 Greece elections 2015
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in a school in a suburb of Athens near Athens
13/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters of the opposition radical leftist Syriza party cheer at exit poll results which indicate that Syriza have a clear lead in in Athens
14/25 Greece elections 2015
Anti-austerity Syriza supporters celebrate after the first exit polls, as they gather at the Syriza election kiosk in Athens
15/25 Greece elections 2015
Media crew set up in the balconies of a hotel overlooking the Greek Parliament building in Athens
16/25 Greece elections 2015
Political party papers are organised at a polling station in a school in Athens
17/25 Greece elections 2015
The Greek flag flies on top of the Greek parliament in Athens, as the nation goes to the polls. Greece votes in a crucial general election that could bring the anti-austerity Syriza party to power and lead to a re-negotiation of the country's international bailout
18/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras is welcomed as he arrives for a pre-election campaign speech
AP
19/25 Greece elections 2015
Prime Minister and leader of the conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samara delivers a pre-election speech
Getty Images
20/25 Greece elections 2015
The Leader of Pasok (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) Evangelos Venizelos speaks during a parliament meeting in December 2014
AP
21/25 Greece elections 2015
Alexis Tsipras, head of the Syriza left-wing main opposition party, on the campaign trail
AP
22/25 Greece elections 2015
Election posters for the communist party adorn a derelict shop in Athens
Getty Images
23/25 Greece elections 2015
Ballet dancers, performing for a film in Athens, dance in front of the Parliament building ahead of the general election
Getty Images
24/25 Greece elections 2015
Workers put up polling station signs at a school in Athens
EPA
25/25 Greece elections 2015
Supporters cheer as head of the conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samara arrives at the Taekwondo Indoor Stadium in Athens to give a pre-election address
Getty Images
But it represents a further souring of relations between Athens and Berlin, already fraught amid the ongoing wrangling over Greece's financial bailout. Germany has been at the forefront of countries demanding strict austerity measures from Greece in return for financial aid.
“We should look forward together,” German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told reporters in Berlin. “Making these emotional and backward-looking allegations doesn't help in the context of the work we need to tackle together with the Greeks.”
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