Vice-Chancellor Gabriel calls Greek govt's reparations request 'stupid'

German Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel  wasn't too impressed with a calculation of German war reparations tallied by the Greek government, calling the demand a less than tactful "stupid".

The head of the junior partner in the ruling coalition with Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats was unimpressed with the figure of 278.7 billion euros cited by Greek Alternate Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas this week.

The opposition in Germany's Bundestag, the Greens and the leftist Die Linke, issued statements in favour of a return of a 1942 forced "loan" taken by Nazi forces during the occupation of Greece.