A Century-Old Wound: Greece Demands Reparations from Germany

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,...