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The Greek parliament’s speaker Nikos Voutsis declared the institution in a “historic moment” will approve a fresh bid to seek war repayments from Berlin. Athens is seeking between £230-270 billion from Germany and will use any means necessary to reclaim the cash. Mr Voutsis is set to inform the European Parliament and other European Union countries about the initiative.

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The Greek government will “take all the necessary diplomatic and legal action in order to claim and fully satisfy all the demands of the Greek state for World War One and World War Two”, a Parliament statement said.

Addressing parliament, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras declared the demand as “a historic and moral duty and a duty in memory of the heroes of the past, above all at a time when the extreme right, nationalism and racism threaten Europe”.

Reclaiming war reparations has been a leading part of Mr Tsipras’ campaign strategy since 2015.

He faces multiple electoral challenges this year, all while his party is trailing in the opinion polls.