The Greek ambassador to Berlin on Tuesday presented a a so-called note verbale to the German Foreign Affairs Ministry, calling Germany to a negotiation on outstanding World Wars I and II reparations and compensation.
According to a statement by the ministry, Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou ordered the diplomatic move following parliament approval.
On April 17, the Greek Parliament’s plenary ratified a report by the Interparty Parliamentary Committee paving the way for a diplomatic move on the issue.
Lawmakers called for the government to pursue demands for €300bn in damages. The findings of the report had been described as the first complete reading of Nazi atrocities in Greece.
Greece’s claims concern reparations for losses and damage suffered by Greece and its citizens in WWI and II, compensation for the German occupation’s victims and their descendants, the repayment of the loan Nazi Germany extracted forcefully from Greece, and the return of looted archaeological treasures, the Greek Foreign Ministry said.
Berlin has long argued that recompense was delivered when, under a bilateral accord, it paid Athens DM115m in 1960.
The issue of German reparations to Greece for World War II has been legally and politically resolved, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated the day the Greek parliament discussed the report.