Tsipras raises Nazi war reparations claim at press conference with Merkel

Leftwing Greek leader makes call for damages at press conference with Angela Merkel as deadlock remains over bailout funds

Greece's leftwing prime minister Alexis Tsipras stood beside German leader Angela Merkel and demanded war reparations over Nazi atrocities in Greece on Monday night, even as the two leaders sought to bury the hatchet following weeks of worsening friction and mud-slinging.

"It's not a material matter, it's a moral issue," said Tsipras, unusually insisting on raising the "shadows of the past" at the heart of German power in the gleaming new chancellery in Berlin. It was believed to be the first time a foreign leader had gone to the capital of the reunified Germany to make such a demand.

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