Germany has no intention of ending its commitment to returning artworks and other possessions looted by the Nazis to their rightful owners, German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann has announced.

Neumann was responding to comments by Norman Rosenthal, former exhibitions secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, according to Bloomberg. Rosenthal was quoted in this week's Der Spiegel magazine as saying that art should stay in museums and that rising art prices have "awakened greed" and encouraged restitution claims. He pointed out that many disputed paintings are sold immediately after they are returned, and that some of the lawyers who handle restitution cases earn as much as 50 percent of the works' value.

Neumann said in an emailed statement that “the German government stands by its historical and moral responsibility.”

“An end to the restitution of cultural goods lost through Nazi persecution is out of the question for the German government," he said. “We will continue to push for the identification of looted art in public collections and to reach a settlement with the rightful owner or the heirs.”

Under Neumann, Germany's culture ministry established in 2007 a government agency devoted to researching the art of public collections. The Nazis are believed to have looted at least 650,000 artworks from private collections. Germany is among 44 nations that agreed to the non-binding principles laid down in Washington in 1998 stating that governments would find a "just and fair" arrangement with artworks' prewar owners or their heirs.