Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met, on Wednesday, with delegations of five American – Jewish organisations in New York. He then had a separate meeting with the President and senior executives of the American – Jewish organisation AIPAC, in the context of his meetings during the High-level Week of the 77th UN General Assembly, in New York.
During the meetings, the Prime Minister pointed out the particularly close strategic cooperation between Greece and Israel in a wide range of issues, including safety and energy, but also the prospect of further tightening relations both on a bilateral level and through multilateral schemes where both countries participate.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of the Greek and Jewish Diaspora in the promotion of the cooperation between Greece, Israel and the United States for the formation of a new security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially under the current circumstances, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the dangers posed by revisionism and the questioning of international legitimacy.
In this context, the Prime Minister informed his interlocutors on the escalating rhetoric of the Turkish leadership and the instrumentalization of the migration issue by Ankara, focusing on the direct questioning of Greek sovereignty and incidents of misinformation of the international community at the expense of our country.
The Prime Minister referred, in particular, to the role of Greece as a hub for the inflow of energy into Europe, while he pointed out that our country supports steadily the expansion and deepening of cooperation between Israel and the EU.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis reaffirmed Greece’s absolute commitment to combating Anti-Semitism and the distortion of the historical truth regarding the Holocaust.
He stressed that Greece has adopted the Working Definitions of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial, while holding the rotating presidency of the IHRA in 2021. Greece has focused on education and countering disinformation, especially on the internet, while at the same time has initiated the construction of a Holocaust museum in Thessaloniki. Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos has been appointed responsible for the materialization of the project.
