Germany rejected on Wednesday Greece’s demands to pay WWII reparations after PM Alexis Tsipras accused Berlin of using legal tricks to avoid paying compensation for the Nazi occupation of his country. “It is our firm belief that questions of reparations and compensation have been legally and politically resolved”, said Steffen Seibert, the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A spokesman for the finance ministry said there was no reason to hold talks with the Greek government about reparations and that the demands were a distraction from the serious financial issues facing Greece.

In the meantime, Greece has threatened Germany to seize German assents over reparations, with  Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos saying he is ready to sign an older Supreme Court ruling that will enable the foreclosure of German assets in Greece in order to compensate the relatives of victims of Nazi crimes during the Second World War.