By Penelope Galliou

Greece declares its presence on the diplomatic chessboard, in the shadow of the dramatic developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip, with Athens indulging in its own diplomatic barrage of contacts in an attempt to play a role in preventing the spread of conflagration in the wider region and the development of the Middle East crisis into a regional crisis but and avoiding a humanitarian crisis with unforeseeable consequences.

According to government sources Greece wants to play a role and have a say in the developments and in this light the prime minister is expected within the week and probably on Thursday to visit Israel, in order to meet with his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, according to information, communications have already begun between the staffs of the two leaders in order to determine the details and time of the visit of the Greek Prime Minister, which according to government officials is taking place at the initiative of Athens and within the European framework that aims to prevent the spread of conflagration in the Middle East.

Already Kyriakos Mitsotakis has started a barrage of contacts in the last few days with leaders of the wider region, such as the communication he had with the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan who seeks to present himself as a mediator for peace, but also with the President of Egypt Fatah Al Sisi and they had agreed that it is important for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, while they expressed their concern about the possibility of escalation and diffusion of the crisis in the entire region.

Both about his upcoming visit to the region, as well as about the communication he had with the President of Egypt, the Greek Prime Minister informed his European counterparts during the extraordinary teleconference of the European Council about the developments in the Middle East, stressing that the latest developments make the strategic cooperation of the EU more imperative today than ever. with Egypt.

During his deposition, Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted the need for the E.U. to speak with one voice on such an important issue for regional and European security and reportedly underlined Israel’s right to self-defense, adding that civilians must be protected and the response must be in line with International Law. Indeed, in the shadow of the terrorist attacks that have already occurred in European countries such as Belgium and France, the Prime Minister did special mention in the security dimension and underlined the need to coordinate security services at the European level. He also made special reference to the concern caused by the consequences of a possible expansion of the crisis at the regional level.