Athens, Feb 5 (IANS): Greece's new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has urged Germany not to humiliate the country over its debts.

Varoufakis compared Greece's plight with that of inter-war Germany, speaking ahead of a meeting with his German counterpart, BBC reported.

Germany was burdened with massive debts after World War I and threatened by hyperinflation, crippling its economy.

Varoufakis has been touring European capitals this week to win support for Greece's plan to restructure its debt.

"I think of the countries in Europe, the Germans understand best this simple message," Varoufakis said in an interview Thursday with a German television channel.

"If you humiliate a proud nation for too long and subject it to the worry of a debt deflation crisis, without light at the end of a tunnel then things come to the boil."

The comparison is likely to send a clear message to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble ahead of his meeting with Varoufakis Thursday.

Germany is seen as the strongest opponent among euro-zone countries to any reduction of Greece's 323 billion euro ($369 billion) debt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out any cancellation of the debt, which is about 175 percent of Greece's GDP, saying lenders had already made concessions.