Setback in EU Nazi massacre case

A group of Greeks seeking compensation from Germany for a 1943 Nazi massacre suffered a setback Thursday when the European Union's high court said EU law does not cover the claim.

Irini Lechouritou and other descendants of the World War II atrocity have been fighting in Greek courts since 1995 to secure reparations for financial loss, nonmaterial damage and mental anguish.

An early bid was rejected on the grounds that such cases could not be brought against a sovereign state.

The complainants then took their case to an appeals court, which asked the European Court Justice if the case could be considered under a 1968 convention on the enforcement of civil and commercial matters.

The Luxembourg-based court ruled that the convention does not cover actions "where the public authority acts in the exercise of its public powers," including military operations. The case will now go back to the court in Patras, Greece, for a decision.

Relatives of civilians killed by the Nazis have filed tens of thousands of compensation claims in Greek courts, but the country's highest court ruled in 2002 that such claims against a foreign state cannot be heard in Greece.

Lechouritou's case relates to the worst WWII massacre of civilians by the Nazis in Greece. On Dec. 13, 1943, German army troops marched into the remote mountain village of Kalavryta, rounded up all males over 15 and massacred hundreds in retaliation for an attack by resistance fighters.

In 2000, then German President Johannes Rau visited the site and issued an apology. On the same visit to Greece he said there was "no possibility" for Germany to pay compensation on legal grounds, but added that he would encourage a "symbolic contribution" in response to Greek reparation demands.