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Press Releases|Speeches by the President|

Athens, 24 February 2022

Meeting of President of Parliament with President of Israel

The hope that "the determination in the reaction of the West to the acts committed by Russia will prevent the further deterioration of developments" was expressed by the President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas upon welcoming today to the Hellenic Parliament the President of Israel Isaac Herzog, who is in our country on an official visit.

As the President of the Parliament emphasised "a country such as Ukraine is claiming its right to exist against Russia's aggressiveness".

The President of Israel is visiting our country at a time when a shadow has been cast by the deluge of developments in Ukraine "with the violation of the territorial sovereignty of a UN member state" as was underlined by Mr Tassoulas, who also stressed "the importance of our bilateral relation and the significance of highlighting the role of our states, especially now, as factors for security, peace and stability in the wider region of the Southeast Mediterranean".

The President of the Parliament expressed the certaintly that "the development of relations between our two countries, the strengthening of relations, to which end our Parliaments ought to play a significant role, will be an example for the modern, concerned world as to how two countries with a deep culture understand the defence, but also the protection of peace".

For his part, the President of Israel referred to the strong friendship that the two countries have developed throughout the years, emphasising that this is very important in today's troubling context. As he pointed out "we, both nations are radiating stability in this region. We should radiate the ability to have a dialogue and consent, as we are striving to do in our region through the Abraham Accords".

The President of the Hellenic Parliament presented the President of Israel with the Parliament's golden medal featuring Godess Athena on a seal of the newly established modern Greek state, along with the accompanying scroll. He also presented him with a book authored by his father, Chaim Herzog, former President of Israel, on the Yom Kipur war, translated into Greek 45 years ago.

Present at the meeting were the Bureau of the Greece-Israel Friendship Group, ie MPs Dimitris Kairidis, Olga Kefalogianni and Olympia Teligioridou, the General Secretary of the Parliament George Mylonakis and the Special Secretary of the Parliament Vassilis Bagiokos, the Diplomatic Advisor of the Parliament Ambassador Constantine Economides and the Ambassador of Greece in Israel Kyriakos Loukakis.

Following the meeting, the President of the Parliament guided the President of Israel around the building of the Parliament, with a stop at the marble commemorative plaque honouring the Greek Jewish MPs who perished in the Holocaust and which is located in the parliament's collonated entrance hall ("Peristylio").