Greece has put an official number on reparations it believes Germany owes the country for damage during World War II. Germany claims that all reparations have already been paid since 1990.
Greece’s deputy finance minister, Dimitris Mardas, spoke before a parliamentary committee in Athens on Monday, announcing the results of an investigation to figure out exactly how much the government believes Berlin still owes. That number is nearly €279 billion (or over $300 billion), reports The Guardian.
However, as CNN Money notes, Germany denied that it still owes Greece anything. Berlin first paid Greece 115 million marks in 1960 in a reparations agreement and paid victims of the Nazi regime directly. Then in 1990, Germany settled all reparations with treaties that allowed for its reunification.
While Greece didn’t protest then, Athens has continued to bring up alleged unpaid reparations in 2010 and 2012 while it was in talks for the 240 billion euro bailout package that was needed to save the Greek economy. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his government insist that the reparations paid in 1960 didn’t include a loan the Nazis forced Greece to pay in 1942. The government claims that this was not repaid.
“To be honest I think it's dumb. I think that it doesn't move us forward one millimetre on the question of stabilising Greece,” German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, notes BBC News. Gabriel did say that he has “huge respect” for average Greek citizens who have made sacrifices to save their economy, though.