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Germany: Perhaps we do owe the Greeks, says president

GERMAN President Joachim Gauck told Saturday’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that he backs Greek demands for reparations for the nazi occupation in World War II.

The Berlin government has repeatedly rejected such claims, but President Gauck, who has a penchant for defying convention, said that Germany should consider its historical responsibility to Greece.

“We are not only people living in this day and age but we’re also the descendants of those who left behind a trail of destruction in Europe during World War II — in Greece, among other places, where we shamefully knew little about it for so long,” Mr Gauck said.

“It’s the right thing to do for a history-conscious country like ours to consider possibilities for reparations.”

Greece’s demand for €278.7 billion (£206.1bn) in reparations have mostly fallen on deaf ears, but some legal experts have said the claim may have substance.

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