My dear Eli,
I am so happy and proud to be here today, and thank you for underlining that I am the first European Minister to be received by you, so this is a huge compliment.
Unfortunately, I have to start my statement by offering our sincere condolences to the victims of this horrible terrorist attack. We condemn unequivocally all acts of terrorism, but especially on this particular day outside the Synagogue, this was horrific.
Also, I would like to state that I know that we share a common bond, my birthplace, the island of Corfu, and one of your great grandparents is coming from Corfu. Also, Albert Cohen is a household name for all, even kids in Corfu. And, allow me to repeat here openly what we said in the meeting, that I would love to host you in Greece, but particularly in Corfu. We could go together and find our roots.
Greece and Israel have forged a durable partnership, on a strategic level, based on common interests, on converging views on the many challenges we are facing, as well as a shared respect for a rules-based international order, and our common vision for our neighbourhood.
And thank you so much for your clear statement on our sovereignty and our sovereign rights. That is, again, greatly appreciated.
Our strong ties of friendship and respect between our peoples create an extremely positive environment for our bilateral relations. And during our meeting we discussed, and we will continue discussing, ways of reinforcing our cooperation in various fields of common interest: energy, defence, promotion of investment – thank you for saying what you said about the businesses visiting us – innovation, tourism, logistics, crisis response, environment, startups, the sky’s the limit of what we can do together.
On energy, we talked about the Interconnector, the EastMed. I had the opportunity to inform you that Greece is becoming a reliable energy hub by securing diversified energy supplies and roots. Also we discussed renewables and our cooperation in that. We discussed investment. We would like to attract more investments in Greece.
I would like to take this opportunity, coming back into politics, to thank you for supporting our bid for election in the UN Security Council in 2025-2026. This is extremely important for us.
Also, I would like to say that revisionism and violations of the international law principles is something totally unacceptable and, yet again, is rising around the world. And the international community is sending and should be sending even more strong signals condemning these efforts.
In order to promote regional stability and cooperation, Greece and Israel have been cooperating in various schemes, as the one we are having with Cyprus and the 3+1 with the United States. We had the opportunity to brief each other on regional issues and also explore together what we can do more. The trilateral between you, us and the UAE is a great idea and we will build it up more.
Also, I have to repeat in public that I congratulated you privately on the Agreement of the delimitation of your maritime zones with Lebanon. This is excellent news for the region.
I briefed you on the challenges we are facing from our neighbour, Turkey, that systematically violates our territory, our airspace, uses hybrid tactics, escalates tensions, including open threats, if you can ever believe that, of invasion and aiming ballistic missile at Athens. Such behaviour is a threat to the international rules-based order. Of course, we always speak calmly, with full respect for International Law and International Law of the Sea.
You spoke about the Abraham Accords. We warmly welcome the Abraham Accords. We think it is a stepping stone to a just, lasting and comprehensive solution of all the problems of the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. And may I underline on the Palestinian issue, that a just solution would serve the interests of both sides.
Also, Greece, as an EU member state, can assist in enhancing the EU-Israeli relations, we have been supportive of that all along.
And I was able to underline to you our concerns regarding the developments in the Christian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and how important it is for us to protect the rights of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
Again, allow me to say that at all times we condemn unequivocally any acts of antisemitism wherever and whenever they occur. Antisemitism is not tolerated in Greece.
Dear Eli,
Another important part of our excellent relations is the excellent example of cooperation between our diaspora communities, especially in the USA. And, allow me to say, we will continue to work closely together to further enhance our strategic partnership and cooperation for the benefit of our peoples.
Again, I conclude by repeating my invitation that you visit Greece and we go to Corfu together and we continue our fruitful discussions.
Thank you so much for this very warm reception.