Tsipras Pushes Reparations from Germany, Links Issue to 1953 Debt Conference

Speaking at a special session of the Greek parliament March 10, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras backed the establishment of a committee to seek war reparations from Germany for crimes committed in the Nazi era.

According to the publication To Vima, which claims to have seen an April 2013 report by a parliamentary investigatory committee, the amount of money in question—which would deal with destruction to infrastructure and a forced loan—would amount to EU162 billion.

In his parliamentary speech, Tsipras said that the issue was a sensitive one, and would have to be negotiated, but that there was a moral issue involved. He then linked that moral issue to the question of the demands being made against Greece, to pay its unpayable debt.

He noted that Germany got support for an enormous write-down of its debts at the London Debt Agreement conference of 1953, despite the crimes of the Nazi era. In an obvious reference to current demands by Germans like Finance Minister Schäuble that it was Greece’s [moral] obligation to pay every penny by savaging its population, Tsipras then added: “We are not giving morality lessons, but we will not accept morality lessons either.”

During the debate, the Justice Minister indicated that he might approve an order to confiscate property, particularly in the case of a massacre which occurred in the small village of Distomo.

A spokesperson for Chancellor Merkel has already rejected the Greek demand.