Athens, March 20 2025
To the President of the Hellenic Parliament
Dear Mr. President,
To the Members of the Hellenic Parliament:
After many decades of inaction, the Hellenic Parliament decided in 2015 to address the issue of claiming German Reparations, through the establishment of the competent cross-party committee and the submission of its report to the Plenary Session on 28 July 2016. It took three years for the Plenary to adopt a unanimous resolution which, among other things, called upon Greek governments to undertake all appropriate actions (both diplomatic and legal) to pursue Germany’s outstanding obligations.
This decision was welcomed by Greek political parties as a historic milestone; nevertheless, since then very few steps have been taken toward its implementation—an omission that constitutes a glaring failure to honor a declaration made by the parliamentary body to the Greek people. A few days before relinquishing power, the previous SYRIZA government (June 2019) delivered a diplomatic note, which four months later, after the Mitsotakis government had assumed office, was rejected by the German side. Since then, representatives of the political leadership, whenever and if they raise the issue with their German counterparts, give the impression that it is a secondary pending matter that does not affect the course of Greek–German relations.
In November 2024, the Deputy Minister of Justice, responding in Parliament to a topical question regarding the court ruling awarding compensation to the victims of Distomo, referred to Decision No. 22/2007 of the Council of State. This decision states:
“The intervention of the Minister of Justice in the process of compulsory enforcement against a foreign State is limited exclusively to his assessment of the expediency of initiating compulsory enforcement, insofar as this concerns the non-disruption or the promotion of the country’s good relations with the relevant foreign state.”
It therefore becomes clear that this decision grants each successive Greek Minister of Justice the discretion to leave indefinitely unsigned the enforcement of the court ruling concerning Distomo—an enforcement that constitutes a significant means of pressure in order to compel Germany to engage in discussions on the issue of its overall obligations to our country.
The International Committee on the German Debts to Greece (Διεθνής Επιτροπή του Γερμανικού Χρέους στην Ελλάδα), composed of Greeks residing in Greece and abroad and headquartered in Canada, has—on the basis of the report of the Cross-Party Parliamentary Committee of the Hellenic Parliament on Germany’s Obligations (Reparations, Compensation, and Loans)—calculated Germany’s total debt to Greece to exceed one trillion euros.
Furthermore, the International Committee has been informed by a German source that an informal dialogue is currently taking place between the Ministries of Culture of Greece and Germany regarding the return of antiquities looted during the Occupation.
As Germany has not altered its position—despite contrary advice from the Scientific Service of the German Federal Parliament, and despite formal representations by Greece—the German Government continues to claim that the issue of its obligations has been settled.
The International Committee, with the aim of facilitating the work of the Hellenic Parliament, wishes to submit the following proposals:
That the decision of the Plenary Session of the Hellenic Parliament of 17 April 2019 be implemented, and that the Greek government send a renewed diplomatic note to the new German government once it is formed.
That the Minister of Justice sign the enforcement of the court ruling concerning Distomo.
That the Greece–Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group be convened, and that the issue of Germany’s obligations be forcefully raised therein.
That the Hellenic Parliament exert pressure on the Greek government to raise the issue of the repayment of Germany’s obligations to Greece with the German government in a dynamic manner.
That the Ministry of Culture be requested to provide an update on the recent discussions it has held with its German counterpart regarding the repatriation of looted archaeological and cultural treasures.
That, in bilateral contacts between Members of the Hellenic Parliament and their German counterparts, the issue of Germany’s debt to Greece be raised as a priority.
That a Permanent Committee be established, tasked with monitoring the issue of Germany’s obligations.
PRESS RELEASE
The Board of Directors of the International Committee on the German Debts to Greece is pleased to announce the election of its officers and directors at Zoom meeting held on March 6, 2025.
The Committee’s officers and directors are:
• George Manios, President
• Dr. Eleni Savaki, Vice-President
• Dr. Costas Pappas, Secretary
• Dr. Kenneth Matziorinis, Treasurer
• Ambassador ad Honorem Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, Media, and Public Relations
• Dr. Theodore Halatsis, Director
• Harilaos Ermeidis, Director
• Dr. Panayiotis Baltatzis. Director
At the same meeting, the Board elected the members of the Advisory Council. The members of the Council are:
• Dr. Maria Negreponti Delivani
• Tzanetos Gouskos
• Nicos Iglessis
• Dr. Christos Katsanis
• Professor Emerita Eleni Phufas
• George Harvalias
• Yiannis Gekas
For more information, contact Dr. Costas Pappas, Secretary, at pappasc@hotmail.com
The International Committee on the German Debts to Greece is a not-for-profit social advocacy organization, established under the laws of Ontario, Canada.
The Committee’s mandate is to facilitate through advocacy, civic, political action, research, and education the redress of the Germany’s war-time obligations to Greece, including the repayment of the Greek loan, reparations, compensation for victims of war and the return of the Greek ancient cultural treasures stolen by the Germans during World War II.
PRESS RELEASE
The Board of Directors of the International Committee on the German Debts to Greece is pleased to announce the election of its officers and directors at Zoom meeting held on March 6, 2025.
The Committee’s officers and directors are:
• George Manios, President
• Dr. Eleni Savaki, Vice-President
• Dr. Costas Pappas, Secretary
• Dr. Kenneth Matziorinis, Treasurer
• Ambassador ad Honorem Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, Media, and Public Relations
• Dr. Theodore Halatsis, Director
• Harilaos Ermeidis, Director
• Dr. Panayiotis Baltatzis. Director
At the same meeting, the Board elected the members of the Advisory Council. The members of the Council are:
• Dr. Maria Negreponti Delivani
• Tzanetos Gouskos
• Nicos Iglessis
• Dr. Christos Katsanis
• Professor Emerita Eleni Phufas
• George Harvalias
• Yiannis Gekas
For more information, contact Dr. Costas Pappas, Secretary, at pappasc@hotmail.com
The International Committee on the German Debts to Greece is a not-for-profit social advocacy organization, established under the laws of Ontario, Canada.
The Committee’s mandate is to facilitate through advocacy, civic, political action, research, and education the redress of the Germany’s war-time obligations to Greece, including the repayment of the Greek loan, reparations, compensation for victims of war and the return of the Greek ancient cultural treasures stolen by the Germans during World War II.