“There is absolutely no plan, no thought, for Greece to welcome Palestinians coming from any form of expulsion from Palestine.”

This categorical statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, from the floor of the Plenary Session, answering a topical question of the MP of the “Spartians”, Alexandros Zerveas. The latter called on the government to clarify what its immigration policy is in the face of the risk of a methodical colonization of the country, leaving spikes for the statements of the American ambassador in Athens, George Tsounis, regarding the granting of Greek citizenship to immigrants after five years of residence.

“The granting of Greek citizenship is regulated by law in accordance with the Greek Constitution. It is not determined differently, it is not influenced by any statement of any foreign factor, nor the ambassador in Athens, George Tsouni, diplomat, without the need to even go into what the ambassador of the United States in Athens meant, Mr. Gerapetritis characteristically replied and added:

“There is no directed settlement. It is precisely the border guarding policy that this government has introduced that has reduced the illegal flow of migrants by 90% in the last 4.5 years.”

Emergency meeting of foreign ministers for humanitarian pause

Responding to another topical question from the Parliamentarian of Freedom of Navigation, Alexandros Kazamias, about the position of the Greek government in relation to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, Mr. Gerapetritis stated that he is in continuous discussions and contacts with both parties as well as with his counterparts. He pointed out that today, Monday, they have “an emergency meeting where this issue will be discussed further, with the hope of an immediate humanitarian pause so that the phenomenon of the oppression of civilians’ rights will stop”.

“A few days ago I visited Ramallah myself and had contact with the Palestinian Authority, the prime minister and the foreign minister, and then with the Israeli foreign minister, to whom I conveyed the Palestinian positions on this issue. The Greek government, because it is a consistent interlocutor between the two sides and adheres to a principled foreign policy, can have a creative role for a humanitarian pause”, emphasized Mr. Gerapetritis.

For his part, Mr. Kazamias countered that “the Greek government does not distance itself clearly from the government of Israel and is asking for something that is not being achieved, to continue the situation which is carrying out genocidal conditions and has strong features of ethnic cleansing and that is what it wants to be done in the context of international law”.

“We accept what you say about a humanitarian ceasefire for temporary relief, but there is a fundamental distinction with a permanent ceasefire to stop hostilities and start diplomatic initiatives and find a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian issue. There is no “but” here. Either we are with the ceasefire and the end of the hostilities in the region or we are with the war”, noted Mr. Kazamias.

“It is clear that the Greek government is a permanent supporter of the application – without asterisks and inexorably – of international law and in favor of peace. At this moment we are indeed experiencing a humanitarian crisis which must be stopped immediately. That is why we support the humanitarian pause that will immediately allow the necessary food, water and medical supplies to flow and the necessary medical and nursing personnel to enter Gaza to treat the patients, to rebuild critical infrastructure needed to the survival of people. This is what is necessary at the moment and I believe that a humanitarian pause will create such a dynamic so that the hostilities will finally stop”, replied Mr. Gerapetritis.

Denial of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the passage of military forces from Greece

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in response to a topical question from the Niki MP, Giorgos Roundas, categorically denied the passage of foreign military forces from Greece, through the military airport of Elefsina.

As Mr. Rountas claimed, citing related publications, “everything was done in secret and without any information from the Parliament”.

“Everything has been done with full transparency. Greece has actually been a pillar for humanitarian aid. The parking of the American aircraft has to do with a humanitarian mission to evacuate civilians from the war-torn region of the Middle East. No facilities have been granted to the American aircraft but only their parking areas”, replied the Foreign Minister and concluded:

“Greece is at the cutting edge of humanitarian aid which is done to provide any possible assistance so that the civilian population is in a state of major security. All the procedures for diplomatic clearance of our airspace and of course filing flights for each mission are still fully in place and these are empty aircraft that can potentially only be used to evacuate civilians from the Middle East.”