Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President, rejected demands for German war reparations to Athens during an official visit to Greece at the end of October of this year. During a meeting with the German chief of state, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou addressed the matter. Berlin’s firm tone intensifies the already complex Greek-German relations, further influenced by Germany’s growing ties with Turkey. These neighboring countries on the Aegean Sea remain deeply divided on issues such as Cyprus, the delineation of the continental shelf in the Mediterranean, and the sovereignty of several Aegean islands, despite an effort to resolve longstanding territorial and other disputes and their joint NATO membership.
“Reparations are an important issue for the Greek state and remain unresolved. It is essential to discuss and resolve issues of the past,” urged the Greek president, to which Herr Steinmeier responded, “Our legal positions on reparations differ. Germany has closed this issue from a legal perspective.
However, to alleviate tensions and assuage his hosts, the nominal head of Germany issued an apology for the occupation of Greece during World War II. In the village of Kandanos on the island of Crete, which German occupiers destroyed in May 1941 and rebuilt in the mid-1960s, Steinmeier addressed the survivors and their descendants. He pleaded historical forgiveness for the severe crimes perpetrated by the Germans. A similar fate befell over thirty additional Greek cities and villages during the 1941–44 occupation.
Greece is currently seeking €309.5 billion in reparations from Germany for damages incurred during World War II, €9.2 billion for damages incurred during World War I, and an additional €107.2 billion to compensate for population losses. In response to claims from over a century ago, Berlin refutes any German culpability for involvement in the South Balkan front during the 1915-18 period, asserting that Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, Germany’s allies under the “Quadruple Alliance,” caused the damages. Nevertheless, the German occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944 was a horrific experience, resulting in forced starvation and acts of genocide. Even the Central Bank of Greece had to take out an unrepaid loan. It is important to note that the British enlisted Nazi collaborators to combat the partisan army ELAS during the Greek Civil War (1946–49).
In March 1960, West Germany and Greece reached a treaty that awarded Greece 115 million Deutsche Marks (59 million euros by 1992 conversion) as partial compensation for the damages caused by the Nazi occupation. In 1973, the infamous “Colonels’ Regime” in Greece declared that these payments were insufficient, as they only covered less than one-third of the damages. However, Bonn disregarded this statement.
In recent years, Greece has repeatedly revisited the issue of additional reparations from Germany as it sells off critical sectors of its national economy. In March 2015, Chancellor Angela Merkel responded with a firm stance, asserting that the legal perspective “closes the issue of reparations for Greece”.
The reparations issue was theoretically simplified by the reunification of Germany in 1990, as Bonn argued that responsibility should be equally divided between the two German states during the existence of the GDR (1949–89), as Greek media emphasize. Nevertheless, the GDR opposed this, citing the German Basic Law (from 1949 and still in effect), which regards Germany as inclusive of the historic Reich territories. Consequently, the Federal Republic of Germany should be solely responsible for reparations.
The fact that both Italy and Bulgaria provided reparations to Greece following World War II further supports the Greek position on reparations. Bulgaria contributed $45 million in both cash and products during the same period, while Italy contributed $105 million under a 1947 peace treaty.
The Soviet Union proposed the setting up of a Reparation Commission under the United Nations in 1946–54. The purpose of this commission was to determine and record the exact debts owed by Germany and its allies. However, the Western powers opposed this initiative.
Athens has renewed its calls for reparations from Berlin in recent years, primarily due to the challenging socio-economic situation in Greece and the lack of state funds for housing and social services. Greek media has observed that authorities persist in demanding reparations as a way to vent their frustration, even though Germany is unlikely to comply. Several media entities have even expressed their strong opinions on the subject. For example, the Athenian newspaper ‘Chaniotika Nea’ cautioned, “If Germany does not cease claiming that the 1953 London Agreement ‘forgave’ reparations owed to Greece, and if it does not start paying them immediately, it would mean the Germans are mocking us. We are not begging; we are demanding! In memory of our ancestors who heroically rebuilt Greece from the ruins and countless graves left by the Third Reich.”
Germany’s debt was reduced by half as a result of the London Debt Agreement (LDA), a debt relief treaty executed under the Marshall Plan with West Germany. The agreement predominantly focused on the restructuring of Germany’s post-war debts and involved West Germany and its creditors. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, requested comparable debt relief for Greece in 2012. Nevertheless, the terms that Greece was offered during its financial crisis were substantially less favorable than those that Germany was granted in 1953. As a result of the implementation of austerity measures and the acceleration of privatization, the standard of living decreased and the debt burden increased. Greece’s national debt had surpassed €406 billion by the end of 2023. Germany generated roughly €3 billion from the debt crisis in Greece from 2010 to 2017. The European Central Bank also realized profits from Greece’s bonds. Nevertheless, the Greek government, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has refrained from pursuing compensation for these historical financial dynamics.