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GREECE

Juppé: Greek situation ‘extremely worrying’

 

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said Wednesday that the situation in Greece was "extremely worrying" after elections punished mainstream parties backing an EU-IMF bailout package.

 

Juppé: Greek situation 'extremely worrying'
The Greek Parliament building in Athens/Dimorsitanos

“The situation is extremely difficult, extremely tense. The result of the elections showed a very strong reversal for the two governing parties and an increase of extremes, so it is extremely worrying,” he told Europe 1 radio.

Greece is facing a political impasse after the vote Sunday pushed out the parties accepting an EU-IMF bailout package that included harsh austerity measures.

After the conservative New Democracy party failed to form a government Monday, the task has fallen to radical left-wing party Syriza – whose leader, Alexis Tsipras, said Tuesday the vote had “clearly nullified” Greece’s loan agreement. 

“The questioning of the treaties that were painstakingly negotiated … risks sparking turbulence that will be difficult to control,” Juppé said.

Juppe was to attend his final cabinet session as foreign minister later Wednesday after President Nicolas Sarkozy was ousted by Socialist François Hollande in France’s election on Sunday.

Hollande has vowed to renegotiate the EU’s fiscal pact to put emphasis on economic growth as well as austerity but is facing fierce resistance from Germany.

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ANGELA MERKEL

German war crime payments debated in Greece

Greece's parliament on Wednesday began a debate on a resolution to demand the payment of German war crime reparations, an issue long disputed by Berlin.

German war crime payments debated in Greece
Angela Merkel and Alexis Tsipras in Greece in January. Photo: DPA

“These demands are always active. They were never set aside by Greece,” parliament chairman Nikos Voutsis told reporters this week.

The chamber is expected to approve later Wednesday, with cross-party support, a resolution calling on the government of Premier Alexis Tsipras “to take all the necessary diplomatic and legal steps to claim and fully satisfy all the demands of the Greek state stemming from World War I and World War II”.

A parliamentary committee last year determined that Germany owes Greece at least €270 billion for World War I damages and looting, atrocities and a forced loan during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

Reclaiming war reparations has been a campaign pledge by Tsipras since 2015. He faces multiple electoral challenges this year, with his party trailing in polls.

'Historical responsibility'

During a visit to Greece in January, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country “recognised its historical responsibility.”

SEE ALSO: Merkel says Germany recognizes responsibility for Nazi war crimes in Greece

“We recognize our historical responsibility. We know how much suffering we, as Germany in the time of Nazism, have brought to Greece,” she said.

In 2014, ex-president Joachim Gauck had also sought public forgiveness in the name of Germany from relatives of those murdered by the Nazis in the mountains of northern Greece.

But when it comes to actual payments, the German government has always insisted that the issue was settled in 1960 in a deal with several European governments.

Germany's government spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated Wednesday that “the reparation issue is judicially and politically settled”. 

He said Berlin is doing “everything it can so Greece and Germany maintain good relations as friends and partners”. 

During the Greek economic crisis, there was further tension in Athens over draconian EU austerity and bailout terms seen to be imposed by Berlin hardliners.

Relations have improved over the last three years after Tsipras' government endorsed conditions linked to satisfying its creditors.

Tsipras and Merkel also worked closely on finding common ground on migration and Balkans security.

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