Twenty-eight MPs raise German war reparations issue

A man role-playing as a Wehrmacht soldier threatens a Greek woman, her child and a priest during a re-enactment of a World War II scene, during a protest outside the German embassy in Athens, 6 October 2011 (Reuters) Twenty-eight MPs tabled a proposal in parliament on Thursday requesting a debate on the so-called occupation loan paid by the collaborationist government to Germany during the Second World War as well as the issues of reparations for victims of Nazi atrocities and looted treasures.   The proposal, signed by MPs from Pasok, New Democracy (ND), the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) and independent deputies, calls on the issues be discussed in the presence of the ministers of finance, foreign affairs, defence and justice as well as representatives of all interested parties.   The signatories also called on parliament to adopt a clear stance on what they described as a “crucial national issue”.   The 28 MPs underlined that at an Italian-German financial conference held in Rome in 1942, the Axis powers arbitrarily decided that occupied Greece, as it had fought on the side of the Allies, was obliged to fund the country’s occupation through a "loan".   The MPs stressed that the now united German state owes Greece, a Second World War victor, roughly 54bn euros before interest, underlining that Greece was the victim of unparalleled cruelty inflicted by the Nazi forces.   The signatories stressed that Greece has been the subject of an obvious injustice because it is the only country to which Germany has not paid reparations. (AMNA, Athens News)