Greek Foreign Ministry: German reparations are “a matter of principle”.

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The position of Greece has not changed regarding the claim of German reparations, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs responds to DW on the occasion of the statements of the Polish Foreign Minister regarding the International Conference

Warsaw is stepping up pressure on Berlin, claiming the amount of 1.3 trillion euros in war reparations. During his recent visit to the German capital, the Polish vice president Speaking to the German news agency dpa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and special representative for this issue, Arkadius Mularcik, proposed, in addition to the bilateral talks, the holding of an International Conference on the issue of German war reparations and reparations with the participation of other directly involved countries, such as Greece.

Poland has long appeared, according to authoritative German and Polish sources, to be attempting to “internationalize” the subject of its claims against Germany for the national devastation it suffered during World War II, with no intention of freezing the claim in the immediate future and in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Ideally, she would like to have Greece on her side in this effort, the same sources estimate, but something does not seem to be confirmed, at least for now.

What is the response of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Mularchik’s statements

Following a question from Deutsche Welle to the Greek Embassy in Warsaw as well as the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding whether Greece has received an “invitation” from Poland for possible participation in a relevant “International Conference” as well as whether they are in progress “bilateral negotiations”, the Greek side reacts by repeating its fixed positions on the issue of German reparations, without directly answering the questions. It is worth noting that the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, had recently met his counterpart from the ultra-conservative PiS ruling party, Zvignief Rau, in Warsaw.

According to what the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to DW:

“The position of the Greek government on the issue of German reparations has not changed, the issue remains open. Our opinion has been expressed many times. More recently (5/10), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. N. Dendias, after his meeting in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, noted that “for the Greek government and Greek society, this issue remains open – and the resolving it, which is primarily a matter of principle, I think will be beneficial for all the countries involved, as well as for the EU itself.”

DW – Dimitra Kyranoudis Berlin

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