Mitsotakis: We recognize Israel’s right to self-defense; carnage must end as soon as possible

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday sharply condemned what he termed the carnage stemming a massive and concerted attack by the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas in southern Israel, while adding that Athens recognizes “Israel’s right to self-defense”.

The Greek leader spoke during a press conference at a trilateral Greece-Bulgaria-Romania summit taking place on Monday in the Black Sea port city of Varna.

“We condemn the horrific images; we recognize Israel’s right to self-defense,” Mitsotakis emphasized, adding that “the carnage must end as soon as possible…Similar to Europe and the entire civilized world, we condemn the horrific images shooting aimed at civilians, the kidnapping of innocent citizens and desecration of the dead. This carnage must end as soon as possible,” he said.

In a related development, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias spoke on the phone on Monday with his Israeli counterpart Yoan Gallant, while in a later post on X (formerly Twitter), the former noted that “…I conveyed our sympathy to Israel for the attacks against it, especially against civilians and children. The protection of the civilians, wherever they may be, remains the highest priority for Greece. In the same context, I also had a telephone conversation with the Ambassador of Israel Noam Katz, to whom I expressed my sincere condolences for the victims, and my best wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured.”

On his part, Greek FM Giorgos Gerapetritis said Athens “stands by the side of Israel, which has a right to defending itself against such cruel acts.” In comments to the national Greek broadcaster, and on the sidelines of a joint EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Muscat, Oman.

Gerapetritis said the summit was taking place under extremely adverse conditions, “as they have developing following the terrorist attack from Gaza against Israel.

The terror attack, as he said, is “a violent intervention on a state’s sovereignty and an absolutely abhorrent act, based on what we have seen, against basic humanitarian principles.”