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Greece demands €279bn from Germany for Nazi era reparations

The Greek government called on Germany to pay nearly €279bn for reparations for the Nazi occupation of the country during World War II.

Marking the first time that Greece has officially quantified the reparation claims, Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said the full amount owed was €278.7bn, which includes €10.3bn for an occupation loan that the Nazis forced the Bank of Greece to pay.

Germany has dismissed the claims stating the matter was resolved years ago. German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, "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."

Whilst Germany paid 115m Deutschmarks to Greece in 1960 in return for the occupation, Athens said that the payments did not cover the occupation loan, damaged infrastructure or war crimes.

The Greek claim comes as the government struggles to make debt repayments, with €448m to be paid to the International Monetary Fund this week.

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