Germany says question of reparations to Greece is settled

BERLIN – The German government is underlining its position that the question of World War II reparations to Greece has been settled, after Athens asked Berlin to enter talks on paying compensation.

Greece’s ambassador submitted a formal request Tuesday. German foreign ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said Wednesday that “we are examining the contents.”

He added, however, that the German government’s “fundamental position hasn’t changed” — which is that “the question of reparations has been concluded legally and politically.”

A Greek parliamentary committee in 2016 estimated that Greece could claim minimum reparations of 292 billion euros ($328 billion) for Germany’s World War II occupation and an additional 9.2 billion euros stemming from World War I. A motion for the government to act on those findings received overwhelming support from Greek lawmakers in April.